Russian pair triumphs at 2017 DDF Tennis Championships

Russians Elena Vesnina and Ekatarina Makarova won the women's doubles final at the WTA Dubai Duty (DDF) Tennis Championships 2017 here, beating the Chinese-Croatian pair of Peng Shuai and Andrea Hlavackova 6-2, 4-6, 10-7.

"We found a real good rhythm and we felt we were controlling the game," said a relieved and happy Vesnina, currently positioned 16 in the WTA singles ranking, after Saturday night's final, reports Xinhua news agency.

Her teammate Makarova said, "This winning is a very prestigious trophy and...this brings us so much confidence for our next tournament when we play Indian Wells in March."

The Russian pair gained the upper hand early on, taking a 3-1 lead before eventually taking the first set.

The match was interrupted for 20 minutes by light rain in the first set.

During the second set, rainfall sent the four players back to the changing rooms three times, much to the frustration of the few thousand tennis aficionados in the DDF Tennis Stadium.

The Chinese-Czech team improved their power play in the second set with a clever switch between long line shots and lobs, but continued to suffer from unforced errors and double faults.

"The interruptions due to rain in the second set led to an on-off-game and brought us a bit out of our rhythm," Vesnina recalled.

"Peng and Hlavackova are a strong team, they were the runners-up of the Australian Open this year. After the interruptions, they regained strength and we lost some unlucky points. It was really tough," said the Moscow-born Makarova.

--IANS

ajb/vt