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PARIS

Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and her doubles partner Yifan Xu advanced to the French Open quarter-finals, after scoring a straight sets victory over the French wild-card team Fiona Ferro and Diane Perry 6-1, 7-6(5).

The victory, for the Ottawa native, marked the first time she’s ever won a women’s doubles match in the Round of 16 at Roland-Garros. In each of the last two seasons, Dabrowski and Xu had failed to advance past the third round in Paris.

But today, the Canadian-Chinese duo were on a mission to rectify that, as they got off to a strong start in the first set.

With the opening frame sitting at 1-1, Dabrowski and Xu went on a tear, winning 14 of the next 15 points to grab a 5-1 lead. A big part of that was just how dominant they were on serve – winning 80% of their service points, including 10-of-10 on first serves.

In the second set, the No.4-seeded pair didn’t make it easy on themselves. After going up a break early and looking to be in control at 5-2, Dabrowski and Xu lost three straight games, giving the French pair of Ferro and Perry a chance to rally from behind. But from that point on, Dabrowski and Xu managed to regain their form. They saved a crucial break point at 5-5, before holding serve and eventually winning the tiebreak to secure their spot in the quarters.

https://twitter.com/tomtebbutt/status/1135555816780701697

Next up for Dabrowski and Xu will be the unseeded Chinese duo of Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai.

This will be one of two quarter-final matchups for the Ottawa native. In mixed doubles, the No.2-seeded Dabrowski and Mate Pavic are scheduled to face-off against the No.5-seeded Zhang Shuai and John Peers. Dabrowski will be vying to reach the mixed doubles semi-finals at Roland-Garros for a third year in a row.

Canadian Juniors continue their winning ways

Photo: Mauricio Paiz

Both Leylah Annie Fernandez and Taha Baadi scored victories at the Roland-Garros Junior Championships on Monday.

Fernandez, the No.1-seed in the girls’ singles draw, won in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in her opening match against Russian Mariia Tkacheva. The 16-year-old from Laval is coming off winning a Junior G1 ITF tournament in Charleroi, Belgium. She took the title on Saturday by edging France’s Carole Monnet 6-2, 6-1. Fernandez will also be looking to best her semi-final showing at last year’s French Open junior competition.

Meanwhile, in the second round of the boys’ singles event, Taha Baadi defeated Italy’s Giulio Zeppieri 6-7, 6-0, 2-4 ret. The 12th-seeded Italian was understandably very emotional after being forced to retire from the match due to cramps. Baadi will now face the unseeded Keisuke Saitoh of Japan, after he upset the No.6-seeded American Emilio Nava in straight sets.

(Feature photo: Mauricio Paiz)

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