Brazilian and Canadian partnership seeks revenge against opponents who won Wimbledon in July
AI-generated summary
The WTA Finals brings together the eight best pairs of 2026. Stefani and Dabrowski are number 1 seeds and season leaders. They won their debut against Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang by 2 sets to 0. In July, Guo Hanyu and Kristina Mladenovic won Wimbledon over the Brazilian pair.
Favorite for the WTA Finals doubles title, the partnership between Brazilian Luisa Stefani and Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski returns to the court this Wednesday (12) for the second round of Group 1 of the tournament. Leaders of the season, they will face the fourth best pair of the year, formed by the Chinese Guo Hanyu and the French Kristina Mladenovic.
The clash will be in a rematch atmosphere: in July, the opponents won the Wimbledon title (England) with a victory over the Brazilian pair. This Wednesday's game (11), in Indian Wells (United States), is scheduled to start at 7:30 pm (Brasília time). The WTA Finals brings together the eight best couples of 2026 (see classification at the end of the text).
Number 1 seed, the Brazil-Canada partnership won its debut on Monday night (9) against Belgian Elise Mertens and Chinese Shuai Zhang (8th best), by 2 sets to 0, with splits of 6/3 and 7/6 (7-5).
"We are very excited about this week, it's our first time playing the Finals together, Gaby has played several times with other partners and each time is a different experience. It's incredible to be here in the desert, we love Palm Springs, we love the audience who give the pairs a lot of support and make the game more fun and are engaged. Happy to win even in the moments when it wasn't working. We managed to fight to close in two sets", celebrated Stefani, who last year was runner-up in the Finals alongside her previous partner, the Hungarian Timea Babos.
Stefani and Dabrowski close the group stage on Friday (13th), when they will face Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei (6th).
Group 2 is formed by the partnerships of Taylor Townsend (USA) and Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic); Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Cristina Bucsa (Spain); Ellen Perez (Australia) and (Netherlands); and Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani (both from Italy).
The two best pairs at the end of the first phase will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for Saturday (14). Whoever wins will compete for the title on Sunday (15).
Doubles classified for the WTA Finals
1st - Luisa Stefani and Gabriela Dabrowski (8,495 points);
2nd - Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova (8,370);
3rd - Aleksandra Krunic and Anna Danilina (5,638);
4th - Kristina Mladenovic and Guo Hanyu (3,976);
5th - Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Cristina Bucșa (3,740);
6th - Jeļena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei (3,328);
7th - Demi Schuurs and Ellen Perez (3,130 pts);
8th - Shuai Zhang and Elise Mertens (3,018).
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Stefani and Dabrowski will compete in the semifinals on Saturday (14) if they advance from Group 1
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