Erin Routliffe doesn’t know this, but Gaby Dabrowski scouted her over a decade ago when they were still teenagers.
“I watched her play a singles match in Canada when she was 16, before she went to college,” Dabrowski, 33, said by phone during a fitness training run in Boston. “I remember commenting about how good I thought she was.”
Routliffe, three years younger, admired Dabrowski from afar.
“I always looked up to her,” Routliffe said by phone from a tournament in China. “She had played on the tour a lot longer, and she is the best Canadian doubles player of all time. I always thought she would be a dream partner.”
It took them a long time to connect, but Dabrowski and Routliffe are now one of the top doubles teams in the world. They are the reigning U.S. Open women’s doubles champions and are making their third consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals, which begin Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In 2023, Dabrowski and Routliffe fell in the semifinals to Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez. Last year, they won the title, beating Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend 7-5, 6-3.
Dabrowski and Routliffe are the third seeds at the finals and have also already won titles in Cincinnati and Stuttgart, Germany, this year.
The pair has traveled circuitous routes to the top of women’s doubles. Dabrowski, a top junior, struggled in singles, never reaching the main draw in a major and topping out at No. 164 in the WTA rankings.
Routliffe was born in New Zealand, and she moved to Canada with her parents when she was 4. She was a two-time N.C.A.A. champion in doubles at the University of Alabama before turning pro just after her graduation in 2017. It was then that she began representing New Zealand rather than Canada in international competition. Routliffe has played minimal singles on tour and her highest ranking is No. 582.
Dabrowski has been successful with assorted partners. In 2019, she and Xu Yifan were runners-up at Wimbledon. She won the 2017 French Open in mixed doubles with Rohan Bopanna and the 2018 Australian Open with Mate Pavic. By far, her greatest success has been with Routliffe.
Just after Wimbledon in 2023, Routliffe texted Dabrowski and asked her to play together. The two held a video conversation in which they were frank about their wishes and non-negotiables.
“It was important for me to play with someone who is just as committed to doubles as I am,” Dabrowski said. “We were really honest with each other about scheduling, coaching, things that we did and didn’t like on the court.”
Almost immediately, the pair won the 2023 U.S. Open. They were also runners-up at Wimbledon in 2024 and semifinalists at the Australian Open in 2024 and ’25.
Both players understand what makes them great.
“The key for us is that I set up Gaby and she creates chaos at the net,” Routliffe said. “I’ve improved my net play because she’s so fearless up there. Even when we’re under pressure, when it’s really important, we always show up. I like to say that we are game-time players.”
Tennis became less important for both women when Dabrowski was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2024. She underwent two surgeries and a series of treatments, all while continuing to play at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, where she and Félix Auger-Aliassime won a bronze medal in mixed doubles. Routliffe was supportive from the beginning.
“My immediate reaction was to be there as a friend,” Routliffe said. “Hitting tennis balls doesn’t mean much when you’re going through something like this.”
Thanks to comprehensive medical programs offered by the WTA, Dabrowski was diagnosed early and treatments have been successful.
“For me, every match is a bonus,” said Dabrowski, who was also out earlier this season when bronchitis-induced coughing spasms caused her to fracture three ribs. “Nowadays my mind-set is how can I contribute to this team, how can I be the best partner that I can be and how can I share great moments with Erin.”
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