Canada's Dabrowski, doubles partner Routliffe drop semifinal match in Dubai

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand lost their women's doubles semifinal match at the Dubai Tennis Championships 6-4, 6-4 to the Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova and Australia's Storm Hunter on Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe, seeded second at the WTA 1000 event, were broken five times by the fourth-seeded tandem of Siniakova and Hunter and were outclassed on first serves by their opponent.

Siniakova and Hunter were accurate on 75.4 per cent of first serves and won 72.1 per cent of those points, compared to 66 per cent and 57.1 per cent for Dabrowski and Routliffe.

Dabrowski and Routliffe, the 2023 U.S. Open champions, were looking to make it to their first final since winning the Zhengzhou Open in October.

They have made it to three semifinals since then, including this year's Australian Open.