FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – Erin Routliffe and Maya Jansen saw their historic run to the US Open come to a close Thursday morning, as the two-time NCAA doubles national champions fell to sixth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears by a final score of 6-2, 6-1.
“We are obviously disappointed with today’s result, but it’s hard to have any negative feelings about this entire experience,” said Jansen. “This has been an indescribable opportunity for both Erin and I, and we’re only going to take away positive memories. We understand how fortunate we are to have represented Alabama at the US Open, and we are so grateful for the outpouring of support we have received.”
Kops-Jones and Spears – doubles semifinalists at Wimbledon this year – took today’s opening set, 6-2 and built a 4-0 lead in the second set before Jansen and Routliffe got on the board. Considered as one of the top doubles teams in the country, the professional duo held off any comeback attempt and took the final two games to seal the 6-2, 6-1 win.
“There is no doubt that they are one of the top teams in the country,” said Routliffe. “They countered really well and kept Maya and I on our toes. Like Maya said, we’ll take home the positives from this entire experience. We’ve embraced everything about this opportunity and are happy that we’ve been able to represent the Alabama program that has put us in so many situations to succeed.”
After winning their first qualifying event in Atlanta, Jansen and Routliffe outlasted the draw of 16 at the national playoffs in New Haven, Conn., defeating Yale's Carol Finke/ReeRee Li (6-0, 7-5), Liga Dekmeijere/Karina Traxler (7-5, 6-2), Alexandra Anghelescu/Caroline Price (6-2, 6-2) and most recently Yasmin Schnack/Katsiaryna Zheltova (6-4, 7-5) in Friday’s championship match to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2015 US Open.
The Alabama duo is coming off of its second consecutive NCAA Doubles Championship in 2015, as Jansen and Routliffe became just the third doubles team in the history of NCAA women’s tennis to win back-to-back national titles. The All-American team turned in an overall record of 32-4 in 2014-15, the most wins by a doubles pairing at Alabama. Jansen and Routliffe own a two-year record of 57-8, already the third-best mark in UA women’s tennis history.
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