Saved by Hawkeye, Dabrowski-Xu make the IW semis

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Sometimes Hawkeye taketh away.

But Tuesday in the women’s doubles quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, it gave back to Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and her Chinese partner Yifan Xu.

And, as a result, it took away from Maria José Martinez Sánchez and Andreja Klepac.

The Spanish-Slovenian pair thought it had won the match, 10-8 in the match tiebreak.

They were jubilant, having been down in the match tiebreak and seemingly on their way out of the tournament. They even shook hands with Xu at the net, because Xu also thought it was over even though she and Dabrowski had challenged the call on the final lob.

The replay looked inconclusive – until it zoomed in close.

And still, the ball looked probably in. Until they zoomed in some more, and the official call came.

“The call is overturned”

“OUT”.

And still, Martinez Sánchez and Klepac celebrated. And Xu conceded. But Dabrowski was, well, “Hey, wait a minute …”

The chair umpire had announced that the call was overturned. But no one seemed to hear it, except Dabrowski.

Once he explained it to the players, and they replayed the point, Dabrowski and Xu saved the match point and went on to win the match, 7-6 (7), 5-7, 12-10.

Here’s what it looked like.

It was a pretty crazy ending. No, it was really crazy.

And Martínez Sánchez and Klepac actually took it pretty well, considering.

Dabrowski and Xu were emotional and in a post-match interview on court, Xu explained that she had come into the tournament with a back injury, and hadn’t expected any kind of result.

Tough road to the final four

The first two victories were over very tough teams, even if they were unseeded. Dabrowski and Xu got past Coco Vandeweghe and Ashleigh Barty in a match tiebreak after dropping the first set 6-1.

In the second round, they defeated Nicole Melichar and Czech veteran Kveta Peschke, 6-4, 7-5.

But now, they’re in the semifinals, where they will face another unseeded team: Su-Wei Hsieh and Barbora Strycova.

Dabrowski and Xu are coming up on a title defence in Miami, where they surprised everyone by taking the title. It remains the biggest of their career so far although Dabrowski has won two Grand Slams in mixed doubles.