Two Beats One in Inaugural ATX Open Doubles Championship

Second seeds Erin Routliffe & Aldila Sutjiadi won their first WTA title together Sunday when they defeated No. 1 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Ellen Perez in the final 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. 

The only edge Routliffe and Sutjiadi needed in the opening set came with a break in the first game of the match. 

The top seeds wasted little time surging ahead in the second set as they won the first four games in a row on their way to forcing a match tie-break. 

Routliffe and Sutjiadi turned the tables in the decider, racing out to a 7-2 lead. However, the top seeds were not going to go away quietly and stormed back to make it 8-all. Consecutive points by Routliffe and Sutjiadi allowed them to claim the championship. 

Sunday’s final was the seventh of the 15 ATX Open doubles matches to be decided by a third-set tie-break.  

Routliffe & Sutjiadi were playing their first final as a team. It gave Routliffe her third career title while Sutjiadi has won her second of the 2023 season and third overall.

Melichar-Martinez & Perez were playing their fifth final together. Sunday was the 28th career final for 12-time title winner Melichar-Martinez while Perez was playing her 14th final with hopes of a sixth title.