The last spot in the doubles semi-finals of the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF was resolved in the White Group on Thursday night, when Taipei’s Chan Hao-ching & Veronika Kudermetova from Russia, the No 7 seeds, saved 2 match points in a gripping come-back win to outlast Olympic champions Sara Errani & Jasmine Paolini, the Italian 4th seeds, 3-6 7-6(3) [11-9].

The key was just chipping away, trying to problem-solve. It was not easy – they brought a great level. Because we already knew we were into the next round, but still really wanted to win this one, it’s a dynamic we don’t have often, but I love that about the round-robin format. It was a match where we could express ourselves, and improve parts of our game. Gabriela Dabrowski

“We’re really happy to win this match, and to be in the semis,” Kudermetova said in their on-court interview. “It was a lot of ups and downs, a lot of stress, but we’re here.”

Errani & Paolini held a pair of match points on Paolini’s serve at 6-3, 5-4, and the Italian had not dropped serve all day prior to that game, but Chan & Kudermetova fended them off before breaking to give themselves a lifeline.

Serving for the match one more time at 6-5, 37-year-old Errani was broken to love, and the teams moved into a second-set tiebreak, in which Chan & Kudermetova prevailed to line up the decisive 10-point match tiebreak.

In the back-and-forth tussle that ensued, Errani & Paolini saved 3 consecutive match points, moving from 6-9 down to 9-9, but a winning Chan volley gave her team a 4th match point, and Kudermetova converted that chance with a fine volley winner after an hour and 46 minutes of play.

“We just tried to play more aggressive after losing the first set,” Chan said afterwards. “We moved more, we talked [about] how we play more, and that’s how we win.”

Kudermetova is still in the hunt to claim her 2nd WTA Finals doubles title, having lifted the Martina Navratilova Trophy in 2022 alongside Elise Mertens.

Chan is returning to the WTA Finals for the first time since 2019, with all three of her prior appearances coming alongside her older sister, Latisha.

This year, Chan matches her previous career-best run at the WTA Finals, when she and her sister made the 2015 semi-finals.

In Friday’s Last 4, Chan & Kudermetova will face Green Group winners Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend, the reigning Wimbledon champions.

© Matthew Stockman/Getty Images for WTA

Meanwhile, already assured of topping the White Group and advancing to the semi-finals, Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, the 2nd seeds, came from a set and a break down to defeat the 5th-seeded American pair of Caroline Dolehide & Desirae Krawczyk, 4-6 6-3 [10-6], after an hour and 33 minutes earlier on Thursday.

“The key was just chipping away, trying to problem-solve,” said Dabrowski afterwards. “It was not easy – they brought a great level.

“Because we already knew we were into the next round, but still really wanted to win this one, it’s a dynamic we don’t have often, but I love that about the round-robin format.

“It was a match where we could express ourselves, and improve parts of our game.”

A pair of clean return winners on the Dabrowski serve enabled Dolehide & Krawczyk to break the Canadian in the final game of the first set, but, at 2-0 in the second, Krawczyk double-faulted down break point, and, from there, the 2023 US Open champions gradually took control.

Dabrowski’s proficiency at net proved crucial, and she delivered a series of winners at net in the match breaker.

For the 2nd straight year, Dabrowski & Routliffe finish the group stage of the competition with a perfect 3-0 record, while they improved their record against Dolehide & Krawczyk to 2-1 overall, following a victory in the Wimbledon semi-finals and a loss in the Toronto final this year.

Dolehide & Krawczyk, who end their first WTA Finals with a 0-3 record, having lost all 3 of their matches in match tiebreaks after winning the first set, had already been eliminated.

On Friday, Dabrowski & Routliffe will meet American Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Ellen Perez from Australia, the No 6 seeds in a rematch of last year’s semi-finals.

Melichar-Martinez & Perez won their WTA Finals meeting last year in Cancun.