Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski are a grand slam winning pairing. Photo: AFP
New Zealand's Erin Routliffe with doubles partner Gaby Dabrowski have won the US Open women's doubles final.
Routliffe and Canadian Dabrowski beat the higher seeded pairing of Germany's Laura Siegemund and Russia's Vera Zvonareva 7-6 6-3 at Flushing Meadows.
The 28-year-old Routliffe became the first senior New Zealand player to make a final of the US Open.
Routliffe's share of the prize money - US$350,000 - from Monday's win surpasses her career earnings to date.
The US Open was Routliffe and Dabrowski's second tournament as a pairing, after first playing together five weeks ago in Montreal.
Routliffe and Dabrowski saved eight of the nine break points they faced during a match that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
Siegemund and Zvonareva failed to convert any of the five break point opportunities they had in a tightly-contested first set that required a tiebreaker.
A quick start to the tiebreaker gave Dabrowski and Routliffe a 4-0 lead but Siegemund and Zvonareva stormed back to make it 4-4, even earning a pair of set points, but it was the Canadian and New Zealander who clinched it on their fourth set point.
Dabrowski and Routliffe took that momentum into the second set where they quickly went up a double break for a 3-0 lead that set them on their way as they went on to break again when they closed out the match on their third championship point.
"She really took a chance on me and I really appreciate her for it," an emotional Routliffe said of Dabrowski on court after the match.
Dabrowski was also "grateful" to be sharing the court with Routliffe during what she called a tough year for both players.
"I'm really, really proud of the way that we've stood by each other through thick and thin the last two weeks," Dabrowski said.
Siegemund and Zvonareva won the US Open women's doubles title in 2020.
