Long-time partners Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yi-fan, partnering ever since 2017, have qualified for the WTA Finals once again. Ever since their partnership blossomed two years ago, they have managed to put themselves in the top eight in the year-to-date leaderboard on every opportunity, with this being their third consecutive appearance at the prestigious tournament. They will be vying for the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova trophy alongside seven other world-class teams.
It was another successful year for the Canadian-Chinese pairing, who reached their maiden Grand Slam final together at Wimbledon. Although they were unable to lift the title, it was a new milestone for the partnership as they broke new grounds in their careers.
In addition, they were able to be runner-ups at the Mutua Madrid Open, a Premier Mandatory event. They won their first title of 2019 in Nurnberg, living up to expectations at the top seed. Dabrowski and Xu also had quarterfinal results at the French Open and the US Open, labelling themselves as one of the biggest names on the doubles circuit.
This will be the first time that the pairing will be involved in the new Round Robin format for doubles in Shenzhen, with this format last employed in 2015. Ranked in the top-10 together, Dabrowski and Xu will be hoping to cause some upsets and triumph in Shenzhen.