OMNIUM BANQUE NATIONALE

August 13, 2021

Gabriela Dabrowski

Press Conference

DABROWSKI-STEFANI/Mertens-Sabalenka

6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Would you walk us through today's match, how it feels to be in the semifinals.

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Well, I thought the best thing we did was maintain our focus from the beginning till the end of the match. I thought that was key. Obviously against the best teams in the world, you can't let up at all. I didn't think that we did. I think that sort of ensured that we didn't go to, like, a third set, we didn't let them feel they had any space to play.

Q. I was going through your matches with Luisa in the past year or so. I notice you lost to Mertens and Sabalenka in 2020. Did you have that match in mind when you played today?

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Yeah, somewhat. We played in the finals of the Ostrava WTA 500 at the end of last year. That was the first tournament that Luisa and I played with each other, which was really fun overall.

Losing in the finals the way that we did I think was a really good learning experience. Even though we haven't played since then, I actually felt like that loss helped our mindset going into today against the same team.

Yeah, I think we knew what to expect in terms of obviously their level and how good they are. I think we tried to take the match into our own hands a little bit more by trying to hold serve, serve really strongly, come forward and make them feel uncomfortable. It worked today.

Q. Are you destined to play a lot with her going forward? How much does it click between you two?

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: We're set to play the rest of the season. Past then I have no idea, but definitely till whatever we choose is our last WTA tournament this year.

Yeah, we're really good friends. We actually train in the same place in Florida at Saddlebrook. We're basically neighbors so we've known each other a few years now and become closer friends, which is really nice.

Yeah, this is the first time we've ever played, like, consistently together.

Q. This is just your third tournament playing together. What makes you successful at doubles so fast?

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: I think just because we are good friends, we've practiced a lot together, watched each other play. I think we kind of know what to expect with each other's game. I think in that sense, even though we haven't played a lot together, it might feel like we have because we spent a lot of time together.

Yes, so far it's gone quite well. So, yeah...

Q. What do you think of her game? Which characteristics of her game do you like more?

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Luisa has a really good all-around game. She can hit all the shots, which is really fun to have that in your arsenal as a tennis player, just to know you have a really good skill set around the court.

I think her strengths are her serves and her volleys. Her returns are improving every day. I'm looking forward to keep playing with her and to see where her game grows. At the same time, just for her own tennis career, I think she's got a lot of potential. So, yeah, it's really fun.

Q. Can you characterize what this tournament has been like for you so far.

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Well, yeah, really good so far. It's nice to be back in Canada. I haven't been back here since November 2019. It's been a long time since I've been in my home country. Even longer since I've been in Montreal obviously for the tournament. It's really, really good to be back. It's good to be playing well.

Really looking forward to playing hopefully tomorrow in front of fans because we haven't gotten to do that yet. Yeah, I mean, it's unfortunate that we are in a bubble and we can't experience all of Montreal and what the beautiful city has to offer, especially for Luisa because she's never got to play this tournament. That's one thing that's a little sad.

At the same time hopefully next year, the following year, we'll have a chance to come back and see more of Montreal.

Q. What is it like for you to be the final Canadian standing in this tournament?

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Oh, well, it's nice. Hopefully still gives the crowd someone to cheer for. Although I will say the one amazing thing about Canada is that we are so multi-cultural. We have so many fans from all over the world. Even as we saw last night, so many Tunisian fans for Ons Jabeur. I think that's a beautiful thing that Canada has to offer.

Yeah, I'm half Polish, so maybe some Polish fans, too, Canadian-Polish people out there tomorrow supporting us.

Q. What are your thoughts on the next match?

GABRIELA DABROWSKI: I played both but never together. I played Kudermetova twice in the last few months on the clay. We played in Madrid and Rome the following week. I'm pretty familiar with her game. I watched her play the Wimbledon finals.

Luisa I think has played Rybakina maybe six or seven times actually. I think we know them quite well. They're very, very powerful. They are very good singles players. Kudermetova has had good results in doubles, too. They have strong baseline games, very good serves. Hopefully we are able to put a lot of pressure on them tomorrow and make the court feel small.

We'll see what they come up with to put the ball past us, but really, really looking forward to playing them tomorrow.