Erin Routliffe (L) and Gabriela Dabrowski. Photo: AFP
Erin Routliffe is on the verge of making New Zealand tennis history after reaching the women's doubles final at the US Open in New York.
Auckland-based Routliffe and her Canadian partner Gabriella Dabrowski emerged surprise semi-final winners on Saturday morning, beating fancied pair Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu 6-1 7-6 (4).
Playing just their fourth tournament together, the 16th-seeded pair held their nerve to set up a final against either the 12th-seeded German pair of Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva or the unseeded combination of American Jennifer Brady and Brazilian Luisa Stefani.
It is comfortably the biggest career achievement for Auckland-born Routliffe, who studied at the University of Alabama and reached a career-high doubles ranking of 29th last year, when she reached the doubles quarter-finals at Wimbledon alongside Pole Alicja Rosolska.
She can become the second New Zealander to claim a women's doubles grand slam, emulating Judy Connor, who was victorious at the 1979 Australian Open.
Dabrowski advances to her second career women's doubles final, having also contested two mixed doubles finals.
- RNZ
