Canada's Dabrowski, Routliffe aim for 2nd straight Grand Slam tennis title

Tennis player Gabriela Dabrowski felt a connection "right away" when she started playing doubles with fellow Canadian Erin Routliffe last season.

Results quickly followed as the duo won the U.S. Open in just their fourth tournament together. Their strong form continued through the fall and has both players feeling excited ahead of the Australian Open and 2024 season.

"I'm really proud of how [we] have come together to be able to achieve something so great but doing it in a way where we're really on each other's side," Dabrowski said. "That's really unique I think."

Dabrowski, an Ottawa native, is ranked seventh in the world in women's doubles. Routliffe, a dual citizen who represents New Zealand internationally, is ninth.

"If you can trust your partner and feel like they're beside you no matter what, then I think it's a recipe for success," said Routliffe, who grew up near Toronto and lives in Montreal.

WATCH | Gabriela Dabrowski on winning the U.S. Open women's doubles title:

Canada has only two singles players ranked in the top 100 entering the season's first Grand Slam. Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime is ranked 27th on the ATP Tour and Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is 36th on the WTA Tour.

Main draw play begins Sunday (Saturday evening in Canada) at Melbourne Park. Auger-Aliassime will open against Dominic Thiem of Austria while Fernandez has drawn a qualifier for her first-round match.

Joining them in the singles draws are Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., who are both using their protected ranking.

Shapovalov, who missed the second half of last season due to injury, has dropped to No. 116 in the world. Raonic, who returned last June after an injury absence of