Gauff, Kessler kick off partnership with doubles crown at National Bank Open in Montreal

Coco Gauff is leaving Montreal as a champion after all.

Gauff teamed with fellow American McCartney Kessler for a 6-4, 1-6, 13-11 win over Taylor Townsend of the United States and China's Zhang Shuai on Wednesday in the National Bank Open women's doubles final.

Gauff was playing in just her third doubles tournament since splitting with longtime partner Jessica Pegula after the 2024 Paris Olympics. That pair won the Canadian Open women's doubles crown in 2022.

It also helped ease the sting of crashing out of the singles competition as the top seed with a round of 16 loss to Canada's Victoria Mboko.

Mboko, from Toronto, was set to face ninth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the singles semifinals at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday while Naomi Osaka of Japan faced Clara Tauson of Denmark.

The women's final is set for Thursday.

WATCH | Toronto's Mboko continues stunning National Bank Open run:

Canada’s Victoria Mboko stuns tennis fans with National Bank Open semi-final run