Mattek-Sands and Kenin crowned 2024 Miami Open Women’s Doubles Champions

by Daniel Perisse

Less than 24 hours after Danielle Collins’ win, American tennis celebrated again at the 2024 Miami Open as Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin kept captured the 2024 Miami Open Women’s Doubles title prevailing over Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Eric Routliffe, from New Zealand, 4-6, 7-6(5), 11-9 this Sunday at the Hard Rock Stadium.

A tour veteran, Mattek-Sands achieved her 30^th doubles title in the WTA – including the 2016 Miami Open, playing with Czech Lucie Safarova –, while this was Kenin’s fourth. This is their second win this season, after Abu Dhabi, and the third as a team, after Beijing 2019.

“I have my family, my parents here, a friend of mine that had heart attacks with me all week. We’re all celebrating Easter after that. I love coming to Miami, I feel the support here,” commented the 39-year-old Mattek-Sands, from Rochester, Minn.

This is the second straight year that an All-American doubles team has won the Miami Open: in 2023, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff were crowned champions.

Sofia Kenin is a 25-year-old who resides in Pembroke Pines, Fla., a city about 15 minutes from Hard Rock Stadium. Currently at World No. 58 in singles, she won the Australian Open in 2020.

“I love it. Absolutely. You know you don’t, you’re not home that often and there was a chance. I love that here and the fact that I was able to be here for two weeks was nice because I’m obviously on the road and I enjoyed it. I love the fans that came out supporting me,” commented Kenin.

Both players were not initially in the draw and entered the competition as the first alternates due to a withdrawal.

Besides that, Mattek-Sands played the entire semifinal and the deciding match today with a bandage in her left foot, due to an ankle injury she suffered last Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe, the current US Open winners, are ranked No. 4 and 5, respectively. They entered the draw as the second seeds.

In the first set, the pair from Canada and New Zealand took advantage of breaks in the first and third, both with unforced errors from Kenin, and were better serving and in the net to secure the 1-0 advantage in 42 minutes.

The Americans opened a 3-1 lead in the second and had chances to serve for the set at 5-2 and 5-3 but did not make it. Dabrowski and Routliffe eventually forced a tie-break, and again Mattek-Sands and Kenin took control from the beginning, with a 5-0 advantage. However, they needed five set points to win 7-5, in one hour, and tie the match.

“It’s funny because in this match we had both scenarios, you know, it was close in that first set. We had a couple of chances, a couple of deuce points to make it even closer, and then we were up big in the second and I got a bit nervous,” explained Mattek-Sands.

During the match tie-break, again the American pair took control from the beginning and the opponents started to come back. At 9-6, Mattek-Sands and Kenin missed three championship points and the score was 9-9.

Kenin served to make it 10-9, and then they broke Routliffe’s serve to celebrate a very special win, considering all the circumstances.

“Every scenario has always happened in tennis, and you always make it out on the other side, and you live to compete another day if you want. But it’s just important to kind of stick to the strategy and bring the energy that’s why you’ll see us talk a little bit on the sidelines,” she added. The doubles winners also commented on Danielle Collins’s triumph in singles: “I think it’s great. American tennis, and of course, many congrats to her. I mean, she’s playing some unreal tennis and yeah, I feel like we’re all pushing each other. We all know how to compete against each other, but we want the Americans to win of course to drive the sport,” commented Kenin.