Asia Muhammad stepped in to team up with Erin Routliffe at the Cincinnati tennis tournament in 2024 when Gaby Dabrowski was undergoing radiation treatment for her breast cancer, and they went all the way to the title. Fast forward a year, and Routliffe and Dabrowski were through to the 2025 final together, facing the team of Alexandra Panova and Guo Han-yu who had eliminated Muhammad and her partner Demi Schuurs earlier in the competition.
Although Routliffe and Dabrowski have a Grand Slam title, and a WTA Finals title as well, they had been unable to win a WTA 1000 title together in four previous finals. This time, though, they were the clear favourites against a team who were reaching this stage for the first time in their respective careers. What made this week even sweeter for Guo and Panova was that they also reached new career-high rankings in doubles, with Guo doing the same in singles as well.
I’ve already mentioned this week how the best rallies in some matches have come very early on, and it was the same this time. Panova served first, and the unreal 20 shot rally on just the third point simply never got close to being overtaken as the best on the night. It ended when Routliffe’s final overhead volley went over the baseline, and Panova went on to hold.
Routliffe did the same to love, but Guo gave away a break point when she double faulted. An unreturnable serve to Dabrowski took them to deuce, but the Canadian had the last laugh when she won the good rally on the deciding point with an inside-out forehand volley into the tramlines. Guo added a beautiful forehand return down the tramlines to the highlights reel when Dabrowski served, but a backhand volley into the net from Routliffe gave away a deuce. Guo got the deciding point back in play, but Panova pulled a backhand volley wide to lose the game.
A string of comfortable holds followed, with nothing to really note until Panova was serving again. She aced Routliffe out wide to start the game, but got taken to deuce when the New Zealander hit a nice forehand volley down the right-hand side of the court. This time it was Dabrowski who faced the deciding point, but Guo saved what was also a set point with a beautiful cross-court forehand volley.
The earlier break meant that Routliffe was now serving for the set, but there was still plenty of action to come. Panova lost a good rally when she hit an inside-out backhand wide, but that was followed by a fantastic 13 shot rally that Routliffe finished off with a beautiful inside-out backhand volley that drew applause from Panova. That brought up two more set points and, although Routliffe double faulted to lose the first, Guo lost the second when she hit a backhand into the net after Routliffe had made two fabulous retrievals in their short rally. The set had taken 40 minutes.
There was another incredible rally in the opening game of the second set, but this time Routliffe was forced to hit an inside-out forehand wide on the final shot. Panova then forced Dabrowski into a return error to take the game before Guo started the latter’s game with a beautiful cross-court forehand winner. Routliffe won the second point with a forehand volley that, according to the HawkEye replay, caught about one millimetre of the baseline as it landed at Guo’s feet, and Dabrowski finished the game with two unreturnable serves.
Guo started her game with a beautiful forehand winner down the singles sideline, but she lost her last four points, Dabrowski winning the good rally on the last of those by hitting a forehand volley into Panova. Routliffe then went from the high of acing Panova first up, and going to 40-0 when Guo overhit a backhand to lose a great rally, to giving away a deuce with a poor forehand volley and then losing the game with a double fault.
The second seeds regained the lead when Panova served, her big forehand to win the second point not being enough to overcome her three unforced errors. Dabrowski held comfortably to consolidate the break, and Guo and Routliffe held equally as easily. There were some special shots in those last two games, however, starting with Panova hitting a gorgeous forehand volley through the middle of the court to win Guo’s first point.
Dabrowski hit a beautiful overhead volley when Routliffe served, and that was followed by a beautiful backhand return down the tramlines from Guo before Routliffe aced Panova down the middle. The hold there meant that Panova was now serving to keep her team in the match, but the game started badly when Routliffe won the first point with a beautiful cross-court forehand return, and it didn’t get any better.
Panova found the net twice to concede four Championship points, and it was probably fitting that Dabrowski, who was clearly the player of the match, should claim the title with the best shot of the night, a fabulous inside-out forehand return of serve. The final score was 6-4, 6-3, and they had been on court for an hour and 20 minutes. It was Routliffe’s 11th Tour-level title, and her sixth with Dabrowski. There’s no rest for the pair before the US Open, though, as they head to Monterrey in Mexico for the final week of action before everyone congregates in New York.