DABROWSKI-STEFANI/Jurak-Klepac
6-3, 6-4
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Why don't you just walk us through the match, how you're feeling right now after winning the title.
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Feeling great.
LUISA STEFANI: Happy.
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: We're really happy.
Match-wise I think we learned a lot from last week's final and we were able to implement those strategic changes that I thought were necessary to turn the match in our favor. We did that really well.
I think I'm most happy about that today.
LUISA STEFANI: Yeah, I think we went into the match technically a lot smarter because of how it went last week. We built on things from last week. From the whole tournament I think every match here we kept improving and kept focused on what we had to do. I think that paid off at the end.
I'm sure we'll keep doing the same thing, just working on our game. I think the more we improve on our game, the more success we'll have.
Q. This team seems to be pretty good together. Did you have a chance to talk about your plans?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Well, we plan to play for the rest of the season. Next week we have Cincinnati, then the US Open, then for sure Indian Wells. Other than that, I'm not sure what other tournaments we'll play in between or after. That's the plan for now.
Q. I was looking at the stats. I think you hadn't won in doubles since 2019.
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: That's right.
Q. Was it tough going through that stretch of time without a title in doubles?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: In a way, yeah. I mean, I used to probably average one title a year. To have a small drought was a little bit frustrating only because I came very close a few times.
So, yeah, but it's okay. That's tennis. Sometimes your opponents play better than you and they're smarter than you, it doesn't go your way. That doesn't mean you're doing anything necessarily very wrong, it's just that your time hasn't yet come.
I'm just glad that we had a win today, I guess stopped the drought (smiling).
Q. How would you describe what it was like to play in that atmosphere today?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Oh, it was lovely. It was so nice to play in front of Canadian tennis fans. It's as close as a home tournament as I'm ever going to get because we don't have any in Ottawa.
Yeah, I really enjoyed my time out there, especially last night and tonight where we played on center, and it had fans. So it was fun.
Q. What does it mean to win a title like this on home soil?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Overall it's great. I'm really proud of our performance this week. It's not easy always to come here. There are different pressures involved. I'm really happy that we were able to play even better than we did last week. Yeah, we're just building going forward.
Q. Did you have many family members in attendance today? If so, what did it mean to share the moment with them?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: My parents were here today. I'm not sure if I had any other family today. On my mom's side I had cousins come yesterday. It was really nice. I hadn't seen them in a really, really long time.
Today was the first time I'd seen my parents since November 2019. It was lovely to have them there, nice to share a win with them.
Q. Did you have a moment with them, make eye contact during the match? What was it like to have them in the building?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Yeah, I actually didn't know where they were sitting. I didn't see them during the match, which maybe is a good thing. I saw them after. They were waving. Then they came to the court. They met Luisa for the first time. Yeah, we had a nice moment.
I also just now gave them a bunch of my Olympic gear that I have been carting around, so yes.
Q. Luisa, what do you enjoy most about playing with Gabby?
LUISA STEFANI: Everything. I love her game. I've always loved her game. I told her that before. I think she's so complete, especially in doubles. I think she's a great singles player, too.
But I think she can do a lot of things, which is really cool to work with. I think she complements my game very well. She's aggressive. She has great hands at the net, great serve.
I mean, playing with her, it's nice. I feel like it makes my life easier in a lot of ways. Also off court we have a great time. I think the more we play together, the more we'll able to enjoy.
Hopefully life on tour will be more open later for the months to come so we can also tourist and do other fun stuff. But I'm having a blast on court, as well. Yeah, it's a great start.
Q. Gabby mentioned sometimes there's pressure playing at home. What stood out about the way she handled everything so well this week?
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: I think Luisa has sort of an underrated confidence, so in pressure situations she rises to the occasion. I think that showed recently with her bronze medal win at the Olympics, playing with someone she hadn't played with very often, taking down great teams that have played with each other before, have played in bigger moments than she has. I think when there's pressure, she steps up and, yeah, shows what she's got.
Q. When and how did you decide to team up? Did you have a coach at this tournament?
LUISA STEFANI: We played last year for the first time in Ostrava, a tournament in Czech. I was playing with Hayley Carter. We had a great time, great season together. After Wimbledon this year, she unfortunately got hurt. I mean, I had to change plans a little bit. It was a last-minute thing.
I mean, I'm happy to play with Gab. We thought about it before. We played last year, had a great tournament. I know at some points we would probably play together again. I'm just glad it's working out the way it is.
I'm sure we'll keep playing for the rest of the season and who knows what's next. I think we've trained in the same place, at Saddlebrook in Tampa, so it's a great setup for us to practice together. I watched her play. She's seen me play since I think many years. We've grown closer lately, recently. I think it was bound to happen at some point. I'm just glad we're here now.
GABRIELA DABROWSKI: Coach-wise, yes, Anrdrea Rabzak who works at the ORC in Toronto came this week. She has known me for many years. She's like a bigger sister, mother figure to me, home away from home. So, yeah, it was really nice to have her here.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports