[to move within touching distance of the final.
But the third seeds Dabrowski and Routliffe rallied, winning four straight games to level at 4-4. They eventually forced a tiebreak, which they comfortably won to take the match into a deciding super-tiebreak.
Perez and Melichar-Martinez steadied, quickly jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the super-tiebreak. They maintained their advantage to close victory in dramatic fashion.
This result sees Perez create history, becoming the first Australian player to progress to the doubles final at the season-ending WTA Finals since Alicia Molik did so with Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2007.
Pictured: Ellen Perez in action at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun (photo: Getty Images)
She was emotional when discussing the triumph post-match.
“I was really emotional coming off the court because it’s been a long season, a really good season, and this is just a really nice bonus for all the hard work we’ve been putting in,” Perez said during her on-court interview.
“And to do it with Nicole, who I get along with really well. This is our first full season playing together and I couldn’t think of a better person to be doing this with.”
The pair’s journey to the final included wins against seven-time Grand Slam champions and top seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens, as well as fourth seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Marta Kostyuk.
They will play for the title against the winners of the other semifinal between Barbora Krejcikova/Kateřina Siniakova and the all-Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Kristyna Pliskova.
Perez is enjoying a career-best season, with this WTA Finals run bringing her 2023 prize money over the $1 million mark. In February, she claimed her first tour-level doubles title at the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne.
Perez and Melichar-Martinez have secured their spot in the WTA Finals after winning two WTA 500 titles this year and reaching another two finals.
The WTA Finals doubles final in Cancun is scheduled for 6 November.
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