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Erin Routliffe serving in her second round match at the US Open, where she partnered with Canada’s Gaby Dabrowski.
Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski continue to build on their new partnership, with a second-round victory at the US Open on Saturday (Sunday NZ time).
Routliffe and her Canadian partner defeated China’s Zhu Lin and Wu Fang-hsien from Chinese Taipei 6-3 3-6 6-3 in a tight match that lasted just over two hours.
They were helped by an injury to Wu towards the end of the third set, which stopped the match from reaching a climactic finish.
Wu and Zhu were a pesky team to play against. They didn’t have the winning shots that Routliffe and Dabrowski had, but they were able to keep hanging in the rallies and both had quick hands at the net.
But Routliffe and Dabrowski got off to a flying start and it didn’t take them long to go up 3-0 in the opening set.
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Gaby Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe take a much-needed break in hot conditions during their second round match at the US Open.
Wu and Zhu then found their way into the match as they broke Routliffe, but Wu was broken later in the set and Routliffe then comfortably served it out.
At 3-3 in the third set Dabrowski fell behind 0-40 on her serve, but impressively she and Routliffe not only saved those three break points, but also two more as they moved to a 4-3 lead.
Had Dabrowski not held serve then, this year’s US Open could have been over for her and Routliffe, but Routliffe explained an injury to her partner gave them extra motivation.
“Gaby hurt her toe,” Routliffe said.
“When you’re injured, you kind of want to do everything one time, so sometimes it makes you play better.
“If you’re serving, you think you need to make your first serve, because you don’t want to serve again.
“I think that’s what she did, so she was really smooth on her serve and she set me up.
“I was thinking at the net that I don’t want her to hit that many balls, so I’d better be extra aggressive.
“I was closing a lot harder on the backhand side, which is important. I remember being down 0-40, but I was trying to fight the whole time and wasn’t thinking about the score.”
Routliffe and Dabrowski kept the intensity up in the next game as Wu fell behind 15-40 on her serve. The first break point was saved when Routliffe put a volley wide at the net and Wu then called for a medical time out before the next point could be played, complaining of an issue with her back.
She appeared to be in a lot of pain when the match resumed, just rolling in her serves and Dabrowski ripped a return for the break.
Routliffe served the next game and they went after the injured Wu for a quick hold and a match victory.
Routliffe said she didn’t notice how Wu picked up her injury, but thought in a high pressure moment, it’s not uncommon for someone to hurt their back.
“When you’re nervous and you’re tight, your back is easily spasming or you can pull something,” she said.
“Everything is so tight for everyone, all your muscles, and it’s easy to injure yourself in that moment. But I know her quite well, she’s a really nice girl and I hope it’s not too bad.”
In the third round Routliffe and Dabrowski will play against former doubles World No 1 Barbora Strycova and Marketa Vondrousova, who are both from the Czech Republic.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played either of them,” Routliffe said. “That’s interesting, I like playing new people. They’re obviously two amazing players.
“Vondrousova won Wimbledon this year, she’s amazing at singles and doubles, Strycova is amazing at singles and doubles too.
“I don’t know how many grand slams she (Styrcova) has won (two), but they’re both amazing players and we’re going to have to do our our things, be aggressive and play well, so I’m excited.”
