It seems like déjà vu once again, right? #GabrielaDabrowski, #MatePavic, #LatishaChan, and #IvanDodig should know the best! The pairing of Dabrowski and Pavic will go up against a familiar foe in Chan and Dodig in the mixed doubles final of the #FrenchOpen. This will be a repeat of last year’s final, and this time the Canadian-Croatian pairing of Dabrowski and Pavic will look to overturn the result and claim their second Grand Slam title together.
Dabrowski and Pavic, two acclaimed doubles specialists on the WTA and ATP tour respectively, will go for their second Major title together after triumphing in their first tournament at the 2018 Australian Open. They have consistently played as a pair but was most successful in Paris, where they now reached their second consecutive final.
Whereas, Chan and Dodig have also been another consistent pairing although they were unable to reach any semifinals outside of their triumph in Paris last year. They lost in the opening round of the Australian Open this year and will enter this year’s final as an unseeded team despite being the first seed in the tournament last year.
Road to the final: Dabrowski and Pavic
Second seeds Dabrowski and Pavic survived two stern tests in the opening rounds, triumphing in straight sets on both occasions though they were brought to a tiebreak in both matches as well.
Meeting their first real tests of the week in Zhang Shuai and John Peers, Dabrowski and Pavic fought through a tough battle despite being just two points away from the defeat. Another difficult match followed as they ousted the alternate pairing of Nadiia Kichenok and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi in a match tie-break which ended 10-8.
Road to the final: Chan and Dodig
After both Chan and Dodig experienced a fall in their doubles rankings, they came into the tournament as an unseeded pairing. They defeated 2018 Australian Open champions Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal in a tricky opener but managed to triumph in straight sets.
Chan and Dodig followed it up with an upset over eighth seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah, once again prevailing without much hassle although they were forced to save a set point on serve in the second set tiebreak.
As the tournament progressed, the pair certainly improved and gained more confidence through a comfortable win over French wildcards and local hope Amandine Hesse and Benjamin Bonzi. Surprisingly, their easiest match of the tournament came against the top seeds Nicole Melichar and Bruno Soares when they dominated the match from start to finish — taking the encounter 6-2, 6-1 without losing serve throughout the encounter.
Match Analysis: Can Dabrowski and Pavic exact revenge for their loss?
Chan and Dodig required a tight match-tiebreak to prevail over their strong opponents in the final last year, and I reckon that this final will be similarly as tight as last year’s as well. However, the unseeded pair has been looking ultra-impressive throughout the entire tournament, storming into the final without losing a set.
Dabrowski and Pavic suffered a couple of huge scares en route to the final although they were brilliant enough to reach the final for the second consecutive year. However, with Chan and Dodig riding high on their confidence, it seems likely that the result from last year will be replicated on Court Simone Matthieu once again.
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