Erin Routliffe wins Charleston Open with Jelena Ostapenko

World No 3 Erin Routliffe has won her first title of the year, winning the WTA 500 tournament in Charleston, USA, with Jelena Ostapenko.

In the final on Sunday, Routliffe and her Latvian partner defeated Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk, who are both from the United States, 6-4 6-2.

Routliffe and Ostapenko, who were playing together for the first time, looked a strong partnership all week on the green clay in South Carolina and never more so than in the final, which they won in convincing style, with both playing well at the net and from the back of the court.

They broke their opponents twice in each set and were faultless with their service games in the second set.

This is Routliffe’s first title since winning the WTA Finals with her regular partner Gaby Dabrowski in Riyadh last November. This was the first time Routliffe had partnered with someone not named Dabrowski since last August and on that occasion she won the Cincinnati Open with Asia Muhammad.

It’s the ninth doubles title of Routliffe’s career and continues her streak of winning at least one title each season since 2021.

The WTA Tour now shifts to the European clay-court swing, with the next big event being the Madrid Open, which begins on April 22.