Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani claimed their first WTA 1000 doubles title since reuniting, defeating Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-3 in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. The fifth-seeded pair, who last won together in 2022, overcame tough earlier rounds to secure the victory. The win marks Dabrowski's sixth WTA 1000 title and elevates her to a career-high No. 2 ranking.
The reunion of Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil's Luisa Stefani proved successful at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where they captured the doubles crown on February 21, 2026. Seeded fifth for the 2026 WTA Tour season, the pair defeated the unseeded duo of Germany's Laura Siegemund and Russia's Vera Zvonareva in a 6-1, 6-3 final that lasted one hour and 13 minutes. Dabrowski and Stefani won 59.3 percent of total points, converting their only break-point opportunity while saving both they faced.
This victory is their second WTA 1000 title together, following their 2021 win at the National Bank Open in Montreal, and their first trophy in four years after also claiming the WTA 250 in Chennai in 2022. The partnership, which began in 2020, was interrupted when Stefani suffered a serious knee injury at the 2021 US Open. They reunited this season after Dabrowski ended a 2.5-year collaboration with New Zealand's Erin Routliffe, which had yielded two US Open titles, and Stefani parted ways with Timea Babos.
The path to the final was challenging, with Dabrowski and Stefani requiring match tiebreaks in three of their four prior matches. In the quarterfinals, they saved three match points to edge Giuliana Olmos and Jessica Pegula 6-2, 4-6, 14-12. The semifinals brought revenge against Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic, whom they had lost to in Doha earlier in the season, winning 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.
"I'm really happy to get our first title here in Dubai," Stefani said. "A WTA 1000 is not something you do every week, so I'm really happy with this win, and proud of our team." She added that they were "locked in" from the start, praising Dabrowski's patience and shot-making against a resilient opponent.
Dabrowski, a breast cancer survivor who received treatment in 2024, dedicated the win to the father of her best friend battling cancer. The result is her sixth WTA 1000 doubles title and Stefani's fourth, propelling Dabrowski to world No. 2 behind Elise Mertens. "Rankings, they come, they go -- I'm more interested in just having a great partnership, and just going deep in tournaments consistently," Dabrowski said.
