Dabrowski and partner Routliffe reach the US Open doubles semifinals

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NEW YORK – Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and her partner Erin Routliffe made it to the semifinals of the US Open women’s doubles.

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The duo defeated sixth seeds Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Taylor Townsend of Chicago 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) in a two-hour, 31-minute quarterfinal match on Tuesday.

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After closing out the match by winning the second set, 16th-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe took a 4-1 lead in the third and final set.

However, Fernandez and Townsend won three games in a row to even the score. After taking a 6-5 lead, they were unable to capitalize and Dabrowski and Routliffe forced a tiebreak.

After jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the tiebreak, it was Dabrowski and Routliffe who nearly fell apart as Fernandez and Townsend took six of the next seven points to level the score. But after an unforced error gave Dabrowski and Routliffe match point, they used a backhand volley to win and advance.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will play the winner between third-seeded Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff and eighth-seeded duo Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan and Xinyu Wang of China.