Eighth win in a row for Routliffe, Dabrowski at US Open

Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski have won their second-round match at the US Open, defeating Catherine Harrison from USA and Poland’s Alicja Rosolska 7-5 6-4.

The match was played in front of a large crowd on Court 11 on Saturday (Sunday NZ time), in the shadows of the giant Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Routliffe and Dabrowski won their first-round match.

And just like the victory over Leylah Fernandez and Yulia Putintseva, this was another confident performance from the 2023 US Open champions.

However, Harrison and Rosolska, a former partner of Routliffe, put up a good fight against the tournament’s top seeds.

Rosolska and Dabrowski both lost service games early in the opening set and Harrison suffered the same fate at 4-4, to allow Routliffe to serve for a one-set lead.

She and Dabrowski got out to a 40-0 in that game but then lost the next five points to give the break back.

Rosolska made it three breaks of serve in a row as she and Harrison failed to win a point in the next game and this time Routliffe and Dabrowksi were able to consolidate the break and take the first set.

There was another break for Routliffe and Dabrowski early in the second set and that was all the defending champions needed to see their way through to an eighth successive victory at Flushing Meadows, with Collins not able to return a serve to the body from Routliffe on match point.

For a place in the quarterfinals, Routliffe and Dabrowski will play against Jaqueline Cristian from Romania and Italy’s Angelica Moratelli.

Routliffe could lose her spot at No 1 in the world rankings at the US Open, depending on how far she and current No 2 Katerina Siniakova progress in the final grand slam of the year, so there is more than just a title at stake over the second week for the Kiwi.