Canada's Dabrowski, partner Routliffe claim U.S. Open women's doubles title

Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand partner Erin Routliffe captured their second career U.S. Open women's double title Friday afternoon, beating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-4.

Dabrowski is an Ottawa native while Routliffe, a dual citizen who represents her native New Zealand internationally, lives in Montreal.

The third-seeded duo converted their first break opportunity in the first set and broke their opponents' serve again to close out the match.

Dabrowski and Routliffe embraced afterward, celebrating Dabrowski's first major triumph since undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She delayed part of that treatment so she could compete at Wimbledon last year, where she and Routliffe reached the final.

"What a wild ride, we've been through so much together," Dabrowski said to Routliffe during the on-court ceremony. "I feel extremely grateful to be standing here as a champion alongside you today.

"It means the world. Thank you for sticking by me. Thank you for the support."

WATCH | Dabrowski, Routliffe are U.S. Open champions again:

Dabrowski and Routliffe are the fifth team in the Open era to win multiple U.S. Open women's doubles titles. They will split a $1-million US prize.�

That's the same prize money as the winners of the men's final Saturday: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos against Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.

"Definitely a lot of people here today cheering for women's doubles, and we absolutely loved every moment," Routliffe said.

Townsend and Siniakova were aiming to add a U.S. Open title to their resume after winning Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January.

Townsend face of U.S. Open

Townsend became one of the faces of the tournament, thanks to a post-match altercation early in singles play that she wishes never happened. Townsend, who is Black, said Latvian opponent Jelena Ostapenko told her she had "no class" and "no education," an interaction that became a hot button topic with questions about whether the comments had racial undertones.

The 29-year-old said she didn't take it that way, acknowledging, "That has been a stigma in our community of being `not educated' and all of the things, when it's the furthest thing from the truth." Townsend's online following grew exponentially, she said she received support from fellow players and Ostapenko ultimately apologized on social media, citing English not being her first language for what she thought to mean tennis etiquette.

Townsend reached the fourth round in singles, losing to Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday when she failed to convert eight match points. It would have been Townsend's first solo quarterfinal appearance at a major.

In doubles, Townsend and Siniakova reached the final at a Grand Slam for a fifth time, along the way eliminating Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez to end their much-talked-about wild-card run. Williams, back playing at age 45, and Fernandez drew big crowds at Louis Armstrong Stadium as significant fan favorites.

Auger-Aliassime takes on No. 1 player

Later Friday, Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime was set to meet top-ranked Italian Jannik Sinner in men's singles semifinal play.

The 25th-seeded Auger-Aliassime has pulled off three straight upsets to reach his first major semifinal since the 2021 U.S. Open, defeating No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, No. 15 Andrey Rublev and No. 8 Alex de Minaur.

Sinner, this year's Wimbledon and Australian Open winner, has dropped only one set en route to the semifinal.

Auger-Aliassime holds a 2-1 edge in head-to-head matchups, though Sinner swept past the Canadian 6-0, 6-2 in the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals on Aug. 14.

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