NEW YORK — Gaby Dabrowski jumped up and down as she watched Taylor Townsend’s lob float over her head at Arthur Ashe Stadium, waiting for the ball to drop.
When Townsend’s shot fell long, just past the baseline, it was official: The Ottawa-born Dabrowski had officially done it again, winning the second US Open women’s doubles title of her career alongside partner Erin Routliffe.
On Friday afternoon, the pair won it two years after they did for the first time, in their first tournament as a duo. This time around, Dabrowski and Routliffe — Canadian-born, but representing New Zealand — knocked off the top-seeded duo of American and world No. 1 Townsend and Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova, 6-4, 6-4.
“Erin, what a wild ride,” a grinning Dabrowski said in her on-court interview afterwards. “It’s been absolutely crazy…Thank you for sticking by me, thank you for the support. And yeah, we rock on.”
They sure do. The pair accepted the trophy and held it up together. They’ll also take home a $1 million prize cheque.
The tournament’s third seeds came out on top in a match that saw fans on their feet and incredible rallies throughout.
Incredible isn’t enough to describe Dabrowski’s run of late. She revealed last December that she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 2024. She had radiation and two surgeries during the season in which she and Routliffe also made the Wimbledon final, Dabroski won Olympic mixed doubles bronze alongside Felix-Auger Aliassime, and she also became the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title. Beyond incredible, truly.
It was Routliffe who earned championship point for the pair after she hammered an unreachable backhand and Dabrowski threw her arms in the air. The crowd — which was cheering for Townsend, the home favourite — was so loud the umpire had to say “thank you” to get them to quiet down. On championship point, Dabrowski landed a fantastic lob, forcing Townsend to answer with one that went long to end the match.
Dabrowski started jumping then, and she and Routliffe came together for a hug. “Oh my god,” a grinning Dabrowski said to Routliffe, as she looked around the stadium while the trophy was being carted out and Coldplay’s Something Just Like This blared over the speakers.
“You played really amazing tennis,” Townsend told the crowd, while thanking them for being one of the best she’d ever played in front of.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won their first-ever tournament as a duo here back in 2023 for the first Grand Slam women’s doubles title of each of their careers, and Friday marks the second.
They came out of the gate aggressively, earning an early break to take a 4-2 lead in the opening set. They were broken back when Routliffe attempted to serve out the opener, but in the next game made good on their second set point to break right back, forcing a volley error.
In the second set, Dabrowski and Routliffe earned an early break point to take a 2-0 lead. But Townsend and Siniakova got the set back on serve after Dabrowski double-faulted on break point. Dabrowski and Routliffe then made good on a final break to win the title.
The pair came into New York seeded third and riding a lot of confidence after winning the Masters 1000 event a few weeks ago in Cincinnati, their second title of the season.