Dabrowski, Pavic survive scare to set up Chan, Dodig rematch

PARIS, France – No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic won through to the final of the mixed doubles at Roland Garros, defeating Nadiia Kichenok and Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi, 6-7(4), 6-1, 10-8, and set up a repeat of the 2018 final, in which they were beaten by Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig.

It was the second time in as many matches that the Canadian-Croat partnership had survived the loss of the opening set to progress, having won a thrilling quarterfinal matchup against Zhang Shuai and John Peers on Tuesday.

They found their opponents in redoubtable form from the outset on their semi. Three times the unseeded duo fell behind a break in the opening set, yet on each occasion they were able to respond immediately. The tiebreak was then littered with minibreaks as Kichenok and Qureshi established four set points by going 6-2 up, requiring them all to finally get over the line.

The second set, meanwhile, was one-way traffic. Once Dabrowski and Pavic established an early break, they were able to use it as a foundation to go on and win five games in succession, pushing the match into a decisive tiebreak.

Again this decider would swing one way then the other, with some fine volley skills on display from both teams. After seven minibreaks, a heavy Pavic serve went unreturned, sealing victory on the first match point and after 92 minutes of play.

In the final they will meet familiar foes in the form of Chan and Dodig, who created an upset against No.1 seeds Nicole Melichar and Bruno Soares, 6-2, 6-1.

After the opening four games of the match were shared, the unseeded duo went into overdrive, taking the first set without dropping another game then reeling off four games in succession to establish a decisive lead in the second.

Although the run was stopped at nine games on the spin, Chan and Dodig claimed the match in just 48 minutes.

In 2018, they emerged 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-8 winners and a year on the final promises to be every bit as thrilling.