Routliffe, Dabrowski overcome shaky start at US Open

Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski took a while to get into their groove in their first round match at the US Open, but once they did there was no stopping them against Lauren Davis and Anastasia Detiuc.

Routliffe and Dabrowski defeated Davis and Detiuc 4-6 6-1 6-0 in a match that lasted one hour 37 minutes on Wednesday morning, New York time.

Both teams struggled to hold serve in the opening set and in all, there were seven breaks during it. But crucially it was four from the New Zealand/Canadian team and three by the American/Czech Republic combination.

But it was like a different match altogether from the start of the next set, with Davis broken in the second game, and then Dabrowski holding her serve for the first time in the match.

Detiuk was broken in the opening game of the deciding set, which pretty much did decide it.

All the momentum continued to stay with Routliffe and Dabrowski and they raced through the remaining games to get out of the heat as quickly as possible.

“The first round of a slam, there are always lots of nerves, anyone can beat anyone,” Routliffe reflected afterwards. 

“It’s women’s doubles, everyone is very good.

“With the heavier balls (Wilson Extra Duty are being used for the first time this year in women’s matches at the US Open), in other years if you hit a first serve it’s rare that you’re going to lose the point, and we weren’t hitting a lot of first serves.

“There were lots of breaks and there are so many breaks in women’s doubles. 

“I used to get so upset when I got broken, because I have a good serve, but now I’m just like ‘it’s fine.’”

It took just 51 minutes to get through the second and third sets, with Routliffe and Dabwroski playing the type of tennis they want to play.

"It was a lot cleaner,” Routliffe said. 

“I think we were returning well the whole time, there were lots of breaks in the first set, it’s just that we were having trouble holding.

“Maybe cleaner volleys, a lot more first serves for sure. I think we started lobbing and coming into the net a bit more.

“It’s good momentum that we can hopefully take into the next round.”

Routliffe and Dabrowski, who is a former Wimbledon finalist, have only been a partnership since Wimbledon.

But it’s already clear they’re a team that could work well together and the more time they’re on court with each other, the better they’ll be.

“I’m learning a lot from her movement at the net and her volleys,” Routliffe said. 

“She’s really good at anticipating where the opponents are going to hit, when she’s at the net specifically. 

“I’m trying to do that as well, be a more dominant net player.

“I do have a good serve, so does she. It’s really hard to break us if I’m serving well and she’s doing her job at the net.

“I do find we’re in almost every return game we’re playing, against every opponent we’re playing.

“It’s rare that the other team is holding from 40-0. So I think that’s a strength we have, that we make people play in every game and never give them an easy one.”