Luisa Stefani and Gabriela Dabrowski moved to the brink of the WTA Finals semifinals on Wednesday, defeating Kristina Mladenovic and Guo Hanyu in a hard-fought, three-set match in Indian Wells.
The victory, which required over two hours of play, saw the top-seeded pair triumph with final set scores of 7/6 (5), 4/6, and 10/5, according to reporting by UOL.
The match served as a high-stakes rematch for the Brazilian-Canadian duo. Mladenovic and Guo, the fourth-ranked team of the season, had previously defeated Stefani and Dabrowski in the Wimbledon final this past July. By securing this win in California, Stefani and Dabrowski maintained their momentum following a straight-sets victory in their tournament opener on Monday against Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang, 6/3 and 7/6 (7-5).
“Hoje foi na luta, muita coisa acontecendo, felizes por ter avançado no tie-break e é o que importa. Os últimos dez minutos nós voltamos e começamos a sacar e devolver um pouco melhor, mantivemos a pressão até o final e foi muito importante para nós,” said Stefani.
The match was characterized by intense fluctuations in momentum. According to ge, the opening set saw both teams trading breaks of serve, with Stefani and Dabrowski eventually finding greater efficiency on their serves to clinch the set in a tie-break after 1 hour and 2 minutes. The second set proved equally challenging, with Mladenovic and Guo exploiting opportunities near the net to force a decider.
The WTA Finals features the eight highest-ranked teams of the 2026 season. As noted by Agência Brasil, Stefani and Dabrowski entered the tournament as the top-ranked pair, having accumulated 8,495 points during the regular season. Stefani and Dabrowski are competing as a team at the season-ending event for the first time this year, though Stefani reached the final last year with former partner Timea Babos.
The WTA Finals format requires teams to play a group stage, with the top two pairs from each group advancing to the semifinals scheduled for Saturday. Agência Brasil reports that the Brazilian-Canadian partnership is set to conclude their group-stage campaign on Friday, November 13, against the team of Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei.
“Estamos muito empolgadas por essa semana, é nossa primeira vez jogando juntas o Finals, a Gaby jogou várias vezes com outras parceiras e cada vez é uma experiência diferente,” Stefani told Agência Brasil following her opening match.
Following the conclusion of the group stage on Friday, the tournament semifinals are slated for Saturday, November 14. The championship final for the doubles title is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 15, in Indian Wells.
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