Sports Announcer. Andy Taylor. Qatar Total Open 2018 / Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
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Sports Announcer Andy Taylor recaps Ostapenko and Dabrowski’s Doha triumph
Jelena Ostapenko and Gabriela Dabrowski win the Doha Title 63 63
Jelena Ostapenko and Gabriela Dabrowski are Qatar Total Open Doubles Champions. In their fourth event as team, they pieced together five consecutive victories this week to capture their first title together.
The championship match was Jelena’s second Doha Final. In the singles draw two-years-ago, at just 18-years-old and ranked World #88, she upset Zarina Diyas (84), Svetlana Kuznetsova (21), Petra Kvitova (8), Saisai Zheng (73) and Andrea Petkovic (27) to reach – at the time – the biggest Final of her career. Though she fell in three sets to Carla Suarez Navarro (11), the week foreshadowed two years of breakthrough success.
Last year, she won her first doubles title in St. Petersburg with partner Alicja Rosolska. She went on to win her first singles title in Charleston, won her second doubles title in Stuttgart with Raquel Attawo, then captured her first Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros. Jelena broke into the top-10, made her WTA Finals debut, and last month climbed to a career-high ranking of World #6. A fantastic run rooted in confidence gained during her successful Doha stretch in 2016.
Gabriela Dabrowski has been killing it as well. In the past two years, she earned five Doubles titles in seven finals, and last November reached the WTA Finals for the first time. Just two months into the new season, she’s won three championship matches (including the Australian Open Mixed Doubles title with Mate Pavic), and next week will crack the top-10 in doubles for the first time. By turning her focus to doubles, the 25-year-old Canadian is enjoying the brightest success of her career.
The Championship Match
Jelena and Gabriela’s toughest test came during the 1st-Round. The two needed a match tie-break to get past Nicole Melichar and 2-time Doha Doubles Champion Kveta Peschke. After that, it was smooth sailing with four consecutive straight-sets victories.
The two also benefitted from scheduling changes due to Simona Halep’s withdrawal after her Quarterfinal victory over Cici Bellis. When Muguruza advanced to the Singles Final with a walkover, tournament organizers moved both of Saturday’s Doubles Semifinals to center court.
Ostapenko and Dabrowski played first at 5:00p, and were off the court in an hour. Their opponents in tonight’s Final, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Andreja Klepac, had to wait for the conclusion of the Petra Kvitova vs Caroline Wozniacki match to play their Semifinal. The two didn’t get off the court until 11:30p, leaving little time for rest and recovery.
In the championship match, Jelena and Gabriela broke Andreja Klepac immediately after the first changeover, then held the rest of the way to take the first set. The teams traded breaks to start the second, before Ostapenko and Dabrowski broke Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez twice more to earn the victory. Hats off to Dabrowski – Ostapenko’s serve was the major weapon that lifted them to the Final. In the championship match, Gabriela was the only player who never dropped serve.
Dabrowski now owns 7 WTA Doubles titles, Ostapenko three. Tonight was Gabriela’s 11th career Final. Jelena has won every doubles Final she’s reached.
Andreja Klepac is now a 13-time Doubles Finalist on tour (5 titles), while Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez – who won the WTA Finals Doubles title on this court in 2009 – has now reached an incredible 30 career Doubles Finals (18 titles).
Jelena Ostapenko and Gabriela Dabrowski’s Road to the Title
- FF def Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Andreja Klepac 63 63
- SF def Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 63 63
- QF def Kateryna Bondarenko and Aleksandra Krunic 63 64
- R2 def [3] Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 30 ret
- R1 def Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke 46 61 10-8
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Andreja Klepac’s Road to the Final
- FF lost Jelena Ostapenko and Gabriela Dabrowski 36 36
- SF def Monique Adamczak and Lyudmyla Kichenok 67(5) 63 12-10
- QF def [4] Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 62 36 10-6
- R2 def Mihaela Buzarnescu and Alize Cornet 62 67(4) 12-10
- R1 def Anna Smith and Renata Voracova 63 63
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Champions: Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) and Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)
In just their fourth event together on Tour, this tandem is through to their first FINAL as a team.
Two-years-ago, at just 18-years-old and ranked #88 in the World, she reached the Singles Final in her Doha debut. A year later, she became a Grand Slam Singles champion, defeating Simona Halep to win the 2017 title at Roland Garros. Remarkably, she was a 5-time Singles Finalist last year, and won her first two WTA Doubles titles with two different partners. Competing in her 2nd Qatar Total Open, from Latvia – Please welcome 2016 Qatar Total Open Singles Finalist, Jelena Ostapenko
At 25-years-old, this 2-time Grand Slam champion won her 6th WTA Doubles title last month at the season-opener in Shezhen; then won her second Major Mixed Doubles title at the Australian Open. Last year, she qualified in doubles for the WTA Finals Singapore for the first time; and comes into tonight’s CHAMPIONSHIP match with a career-high ranking of #11 in the World. Competing in her 4th Qatar Total Open – This is her 11th career WTA Doubles Final. From Canada – Please welcome Gabriela Dabrowski
Finalists: [8] Andreja Klepac (SLO) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)
Last month in Brisbane, this tandem started the new season by reaching their second career Tour-level Final together. They joined forces for the first time at the start of 2017, captured their first WTA title together in Tokyo, and remarkably – qualified for the WTA Finals Singapore in their first season together on tour.
This 31-year-old now owns 5 career WTA Doubles titles and has been ranked as high as #23 in the world. Now a 13-time Finalist on Tour, last year she reached Wimbledon’s 3rd-Round for the first time; and was a Quarterfinalist at the US Open for the 3rd consecutive year. A Mixed Doubles Semifinalist at the 2016 Australian Open, she is competing in her 8th Qatar Total Open, From Slovenia – Please welcome, Andreja Klepac
At 35-years-old, this 3-time Grand Slam Semifinalist owns 18 WTA Doubles titles, and is competing in her 30th career WTA Doubles Final. 9-years-ago, she won the biggest doubles title of her career on this very court, capturing the year-end Doubles Championship at the WTA Finals. Ranked as high as World #4, she is competing in her 5th Qatar Total Open. From Spain – Please welcome, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
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Day-7. Updated Singles Draw
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Day-7. Completed Doubles Draw
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