Erin Routliffe’s Wimbledon women's doubles hopes dashed

Erin Routliffe’s Wimbledon women’s doubles campaign is over after the New Zealander and American partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez were beaten in straight sets in the opening round.

The pair lost 6-3 6-4 to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse from Romania on Friday, with one break of serve in each set.

Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez struggled to create chances against an aggressive opposition, with the decisive moments in each set going the way of Kostyuk and Ruse.

The breakthrough came early in the opening set when Ruse produced a perfectly weighted lob over Routliffe on break point to secure a 3-1 lead. Routliffe saved one set point with a sharply angled volley at the net while trailing 2-5, but Ruse comfortably served out the set in the following game.

The second set was also tight. Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez had a break opportunity came in the second game, but Ruse erased it with an ace down the middle. 

With the score locked at 4-4, Kostyuk and Ruse went for the big shots on Routliffe’s serve and it earned them decisive break.

Routliffe felt the difference was her opponents’ ability to deliver in the biggest moments.

“They played really well,” Routliffe said.

“They didn’t give us many opportunities, and the ones we had, we didn’t really take. So they’re a good team and when you have the opportunities, you have to really step on it, and they stepped up in the big moments, so all credit to them.”

Despite the defeat, Routliffe was reasonably happy with her own performance.

“I thought I played well,” she said. 

“I thought I served well, maybe I could have been a bit more aggressive in the beginning of the match, but other than that, I was quite pleased with our performance. Obviously tough to lose, but what can you do?”

It was only the third tournament together for Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez and they’re still searching for their first win as a team.

“First rounds are always quite tough. Obviously, Nicole and I haven’t played together very much, so we’re not super comfortable together,” Routliffe said.

“We’ve been practicing a lot, but there’s nothing really like playing a match, so it took us a bit. There was one break in both sets, and we just couldn’t quite break them. They served really well when it mattered.”

Although the pair haven’t had the best results so far, Routliffe believes this doesn’t reflect how competitive they’ve been.

“We’re two different personalities, and I feel like we’re a lot better than our record, like losing three times. I do feel like we could be good, but it just didn’t go our way these last few weeks,” she said.

“I like that she’s really talkative on court, like trying to solve the puzzle. But I think I’m often like the louder of the two, as far as being fiery, so that’s something that I’m used to.”

Routliffe still has one event remaining at Wimbledon. She will team up with Sweden’s Andre Goransson in the mixed doubles, where they face third seeds Christian Harrison and Zhang Shuai in the opening round.

“I don’t think I’ve played against Christian, so that’ll be fun. I’ve always liked playing people that I’ve never played before,” Routliffe said.

“I’ve obviously played against Shuai, but never in mixed. I love playing with Andre, we have a lot of fun every time, and to be in the draw and compete for the title is such an honour. So I hope we play well.”