The reunion of Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani has reaped immediate rewards at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The fifth-seeded pair, who reunited for the 2026 WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz season, defeated Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday’s final for their second career WTA 1000 title together and first trophy together in four years.

Dubai: Scores | Draws | Order of play 

The pair previously played together on and off from 2020-23, reached five finals, and won two titles — including the WTA 1000 in Montreal in 2021. Their consistent partnership ended after Stefani suffered a major knee injury at the 2021 US Open, but they won the WTA 250 in Chennai in 2022 and also played together for the 2023 Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami. After their respective 2025 partnerships with Timea Babos and Erin Routliffe dissolved, however, they found their way back to each other — and came good in Dubai after losing in the semifinal round of both the Australian Open and Qatar Total Open in Doha. 

Their Dubai triumph, which Dabrowski — a breast cancer survivor — dedicated to the father of her best friend who is battling cancer himself, was well-earned. Three of their four matches prior to the final were won in a match tiebreak, and they saved three match points in defeating Giuliana Olmos and Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they got their revenge against Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic, the pair who beat them in the penultimate round of their first two events this season.

There was no comeback needed against Siegemund and Zvovareva after Dabrowski and Stefani got off to a strong start. Down 1-0 to begin the match, they saved two break points in their first service game of the match, and after holding serve, they won nine of the next 10 games to establish a commanding 6-1, 4-1 lead. Siegemund and Zvonareva attempted to close the gap late, but couldn’t. After they saved three break points with Zvonareva serving in the sixth game, they had a 0-40 opportunity to get the match back on serve — but Dabrowski escaped with the hold.

“I’m really happy to get our first title here in Dubai,” Stefani said afterwards. “A WTA 1000 is not something you do every week, so I’m really happy with this win, and proud of our team.”

Later, she told reporters that they were “locked in” from the beginning. 

“We know they’re a team that makes you play, makes you earn the games and points. I think that’s what happened in the first set. We had to come up with some good shots,” she said. “I thought Gaby did so well being patient as well, with a lot of lobs and running and … setting us up to finish points. 

“They’re not a team that gives it to you, so we just had to keep making it happen.”

Overall, the win is Dabrowski’s sixth title at WTA 1000 level, and Stefani’s fourth — and will put Dabrowski at a new career-high of World No. 2 in the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday. Siegemund and Zvonareva, meanwhile, were contesting their first final together since winning the WTA Finals in 2023.

“Rankings, they come, they go — I’m more interested in just having a great partnership, and just going deep in tournaments consistently,” Dabrowski said. “That’s always been my goal. So I’m really happy to have achieved that. But a ranking doesn’t occur on its own; it’s about all the people who help you make it happen … so I couldn’t have achieved that number without them.”