New Routliffe partnership with Muhammad starts with a W

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MELBOURNE, Australia – After their doubles divorce, both Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe both bounced back with besties.

And Routliffe, teaming up with Asia Muhammad as the No. 6 seeds at this Australian Open, also posted a first-round victory on Wednesday.

She and Muhammad beat Linda Noskova and Rebecca Sramkova 6-4, 6-4 in the first round to advance to a clash with Shuko Aoyama and Magda Linette.

Earlier in the day, former Routliffe partner Dabrowski did the same, with her own bestie Luisa Stefani.

The teams are on opposite sides of the draw and could only meet in the final. Imagine that scenario!

Here’s how it looked for Routliffe and Muhammad, who had nicely coordinated and fresh-looking outfits.

As with Dabrowski and Stefani, Routliffe has a new partner who also plays some pretty classic, old-school doubles – although not quite to the same relentless level. But they have time to work that out. With Dabrowski, Routliffe committed to that style, and once said she was working harder than she has ever had in her life. But it paid off.

The two, who have been close besties for years, have surprisingly not played often together before now. But when they did, they did well.

They made the semifinals in D.C. last summer. And at the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati in the summer of 2024, they won.

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Stephanie Myles

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