MADRID, Spain -- Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos won their first team title at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs 7-6(1), 5-7, 10-7 in Saturday's final.
Dabrowski and Olmos, the No.2 seeds, spoke to WTA Insider after their win at the Caja Magica.
WTA Insider: Gaby, you were a runner-up the last two years and finally get the title this year. What is it about Madrid that suits you?
Dabrowski: I suppose the conditions suit my game. There's a little bit of altitude, which I think helps my serve jump up a little bit more. Sometimes for girls, that can be a little harder to handle. I do remember in previous years serving really well and that being a key to winning some of the bigger matches.
The clay is so nice here. Actually, Gugu and I were talking about that yesterday that this is probably one of the nicest facilities in terms of clay courts and the truest bounces on a clay court. So I appreciate that.
The altitude gives some of my shots maybe a little bit more depth and a little bit more power than they normally would. I think because of that, maybe I just hit a better quality ball than I do elsewhere.
WTA Insider: Gugu, last year around this time you were bouncing back from a stretch of burnout. Now you're holding the title.
Olmos: Super happy, really excited. I think we just played really well the last couple of weeks. I think what really helped me, too, is we had a month off right before we came here. We both played Billie Jean King Cup, and so we were still match-ready. But just having that break and being able to practice on the clay back at home and being early to this tournament really helped us prepare.
WTA Insider: There have been quite a few new pairings this year on the doubles circuit, but teams seem like they're beginning to gel. We saw that two weeks ago with Desirae and Demi in Stuttgart. Is that how it feels for you, too?
Olmos: We had a very bumpy start this year. I don't think we started as well as we thought or expected, but looking back on it, I think it was good for us because we had to deal with certain things as a team and now we know how to confront certain situations. We have more confidence in each other and in ourselves. The last few weeks have been going well, and I think our communication is better and it's just fun. That helps. It's hard to play bad when you're having fun.
Dabrowski: Gugu loves to have fun probably more than I do, but she brings out a good side of me. I'm trying to also look on the lighter side of things and I think that's helped me play better in pressure moments. So I do appreciate that from a partner perspective.
The beginning of the year was definitely tough, but we learned a lot from it. We had some good conversations about what each of us needs and what our expectations are.
In terms of coaching, we had Gugu's coach work with us at Indian Wells. My coach worked with us in Miami and we've hired more assistance for the clay season. That's been really helpful to have a third eye guiding us. That allows us to bring our own intuition with a little bit of help from the outside. It's not someone necessarily controlling everything that we do, but helping bring out the best in both of us. I've really appreciated the outside team help too.
WTA Insider: How different do you feel as a team now compared to three months ago?
Dabrowski: Well, as Gugu mentioned, we had a good amount of time away. So I think one thing coming into a big event like this, trying to peak and be really fresh mentally, I think that's huge. I also think we had a great training week because we had a bye here, so we were lucky with a later start. We got lots of really, really good practices that I thought helped us just be able to work together really well.
Getting more matches under our belt in the Indian Wells-Miami swing helped us have more confidence in each other and know a little bit more of each other's tendencies. That really helped this week when we had some really close matches. On big points, I think there was a lot of trust in one another. That probably was the difference as well.
Olmos: I think we definitely have more trust in each other and more confidence. Even though we had a bumpy start at the beginning of the year, we never actually got [beaten too badly]. We always lost in three sets or in 10-point tiebreakers. We knew our level was there and we were doing the right things. We just needed to execute better and figure out on certain points or bigger points, what we wanted to do or what we could do to get to our strengths.
As you go with each match, you get a little bit more confidence. In the end today, I feel like we have a lot of confidence in each other at the end of the day. I never doubted us today.
WTA Insider: How do you plan to celebrate the win?
Olmos: I haven't really decided what to do today. I love Rome, so when I land tomorrow I'm going to go to my favorite pizza place and get some pizza and then go to gelato. It's my favorite city. I'm always happy there. I love the food here too. I think wherever the food's good, I'm happy. And if I'm happy, I'm going to play well.
But I think we're gonna go out and try and have a nice dinner today and get some drinks, dessert. Just trying to have a good last night here in Madrid before we head out.
WTA Insider: What's the key to celebrating a win?
Dabrowski: On that day, be super happy and revel in it. But since it's also a quick turnaround to another really big tournament, you have to take the positives, but also look to how you can keep improving and keep doing better.
We're on like a real high right now, but I think next week there are tons of good teams again and I know Gugu has done really well there. So I'm excited to hopefully bring my level just as she did last year. I think it's important to look ahead and see where we can go next.
