Is it suspected disrespect? Zhang Shuai surprisingly did not get to speak at the post-match award ceremony.

The women’s doubles final of the 2025 WTA 1000 Montreal Tennis Open has concluded. The final featured the well-known duo of Zhang Shuai/Townsend against Gauff/Kessler. As the only high-seeded pair in the final, Zhang and Townsend were naturally the favorites.

Both players performed excellently in last week's WTA 500 Washington women’s doubles event, making it to the final and winning the championship, with Townsend becoming the new world number one in women’s doubles. This time in Montreal, the two reached the final back-to-back, achieving an impressive eight-match winning streak as a team.

Of course, the local duo of Gauff/Kessler also possesses considerable strength. They eliminated grand slam champions Kichenok/Perez and Krejcikova/Ostapenko on their way to the final, and defeated Hsieh Su-wei/Danilovic in the semifinals.

The two pairs battled back and forth in the final, but ultimately Zhang Shuai/Townsend lost to their opponents with a score of 4-6, 6-1, 11-13, missing the chance to win consecutive titles at two events. During the match, they saved four championship points but still faced disappointment.

This marks Gauff's fourth doubles title at the 1000 level in her career (a total of 10 doubles titles), while Kessler has claimed her first career tour doubles title.

Zhang Shuai has always been well-liked on the tour due to her good character, but some actions by the organizing committee during the women’s doubles post-match award ceremony sparked controversy. What was supposed to be a speech from both players turned into just Townsend speaking, with the subtitles only indicating runner-up Townsend, which can only be seen as a minor incident.

For Zhang Shuai, born in 1989, reaching the final of a 1000 level event at the age of 36 is quite an achievement. Fans hope she can maintain her good form and continue competing for several more seasons.

On the other hand, the singles qualifying rounds in Cincinnati have also concluded, with the two participating Chinese players, Guo Hanyu and Yuan Yue, unable to advance after winning their first-round matches in the final round.

Guo Hanyu fought for 195 minutes but unfortunately lost to the top seed of the qualifiers, Siegmund, with a score of 2-6, 7-6, 3-6. She earned valuable points and $8,590 in prize money, currently ranking around 205th in singles. Hopefully, Guo can continue to perform well in the doubles event.

Yuan Yue also faced a tough battle in the final round, losing to Ngounou in three sets and missing out on the main event. As of now, only Wang Xinyu, Zhu Lin, and Wang Yafan are in the main draw for this year's Cincinnati. Wang Xinyu's first-round opponent is Arango, and if she wins, she will face American star Gauff; Wang Yafan's first opponent is Stearns; and Zhu Lin will take on Branczietti in the first round. The draw has not been very favorable for these three players, but we hope they can all show good form in the matches!(Source: Tennis Home Author: Barbie)