Dabrowski makes history at 2017 French Open with mixed doubles title
Gabriela Dabrowski became the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam title with her mixed doubles win on Thursday at Roland-Garros.
The Ottawa native and her partner Rohan Bopanna of India defeated Germany’s Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Colombia’s Robert Farah 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 in just 90 minutes of play.
The pair claimed victory after Grönefeld double-faulted on a match point in the final set. The German was hoping to repeat her mixed doubles win on Paris’ clay-court, having won the title back in 2014 alongside Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands.
“Hopefully you’ve enjoyed that final, there were lots of efforts on both sides,” the Rio 2016 Olympian said in an on-court interview.
A Canadian woman has not made it to the mixed doubles final in Paris since 1995 when Peterborough native Jill Hetherington and her partner John Lafnnie de Jager of South Africa fell to Larisa Savchenko Neiland of Ukraine and Australian Todd Woodbridge.
This is the first Grand Slam title for both 25-year-old Dabrowski and 37-year-old Bopanna.
Her historic win makes her the fourth Canadian to win a major doubles title, preceded by Daniel Nestor, Sébastien Lareau and Vasek Pospisil.