Madrid, Spain) – After falling in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 doubles in Madrid, Luísa Stefani assessed the performance in this Tuesday’s match alongside Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski. She believes that the poor performance in the breakpoints was crucial for the USA win Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the top seeds of the tournament. Stefani and Dabrowski had 13 break chances in the game and only took advantage of two.

“It was a difficult match, in detail. And the decisive factor was that we failed to convert the break points, which turned out to be essential”, evaluated Stefani, after the defeat by 6 /4, 3/6 and 10-5 by Gauff and Pegula. She and Dabrowski were coming off two wins at the start of the clay-court tournament in the Spanish capital.

The best seeds are coming 🚂@CocoGauff & @JLPegula will face Kostyuk/Ruse in the doubles semi-final in Madrid!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/bQ2vevzwdv

– wta (@WTA) May 2, 2023

The first set of the match had only one break, conquered by Gauff and Pegula in the last game of the partial, after saving four break points. In the second half, Dabrowski’s shorts were more effective, and she and Stefani were able to put more pressure on the returns. There were two breaks in the final stretch of the game.

In the tie-break match, the greater strength of the North Americans was the difference, in a dispute over who made the fewest errors. The Brazilian double faulted and threw a volley, while the Canadian missed a spike, decisive for the final result.

This lob 🥶@JLPegula | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/o5P4q6ALh6

– wta (@WTA) May 2, 2023

“But, overall, we had a great week. It was the best level we’ve played together since the return of the partnership. Now it’s about continuing to improve and focusing on the good games we brought this week. We go to Rome with different conditions to play well there.” , added the 25-year-old from São Paulo, who has only played the tournament for the second time in her career.

The second-best Brazilian in the doubles specialist ranking, Luísa Stefani appears in 25th place. She started the season with titles in Adelaide, alongside American Taylor Townsend, and in Abu Dhabi, with Chinese Shuai Zhang. The partnership with Dabrowski, good results in 2021, resumed in Indian Wells. They have reached the quarter-finals in three of the four tournaments they have played together this year and fell in their first game in Miami.