Hunter, Siniakova to face Melichar-Martinez, Perez in Dubai doubles final

DUBAI — No.3 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez advanced to their second final of the season after defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. They will face No.4 seeds Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova, who advanced with a straight-set win over No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe.

Melichar-Martinez and Perez made their first final of the season earlier this month in Linz. In Dubai, they defeated Mirra Andreeva and Sofia Kenin, and Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic to make the semifinals.

Melichar-Martinez and Perez are looking to capture their first title in over a year and are bidding to snap a seven-match losing streak in tournament finals, having won their last team title at 2022 Cleveland. Melichar-Martinez and Perez are bidding to win their 13th and sixth doubles titles, respectively.

Friday’s semifinal was a near-rematch of the championship match at the WTA Finals in Cancun last fall, where Siegemund teamed with Vera Zvonareva to defeat the American-Australian duo 6-4, 6-4. This time, Melichar-Martinez and Perez dominated every facet of the game to sell a tidy 62-minute win.

Melichar-Martinez and Perez went unbroken in the match, giving up just one break point opportunity. They won 88 percent of their first-serve points and 67 percent of their second serves. Sasnovich and Siegemund found themselves under constant pressure on their own serves, facing down a total of 11 break points in the match.

Hunter and Siniakova advanced to their first team final of the season after defeating No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 6-4, 6-4 in the second semifinal. It is the second team final for Hunter and Siniakova, who made their first at 2023 Adelaide.

Hunter and Siniakova broke serve five times en route to their win over the reigning US Open champions. The teams combined for five breaks of serve in the first six games of the match before Hunter and Siniakova settled down and protected their break advantage to take the set. After an exchange of breaks in the second set, Hunter and Siniakova won a key deciding point to hold to 4-4.

Hunter and Siniakova broke Routliffe in the next game after Dabrowski netted a forehand volley and Siniakova closed out the victory with a love hold.

Saturday’s final will be the first meeting between Melichar-Martinez/Perez and Hunter/Siniakova. Both are bidding for their first team titles of the year. Hunter and Siniakova, both former doubles No.1s, are bidding for their eighth and 23rd doubles titles, respectively.