Sania-Martina lose in Madrid Masters final

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis went down in straight sets to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the women's doubles final at the Madrid Masters tennis tournament here on Saturday.

Despite playing well in patches, the top seeded Indo-Swiss pair struggled to find their rhythm, as their French opponents claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win.

The French pair were off to a splendid start, forcing consecutive service breaks against their much fancied opponents to open up a 3-0 led in the first set.

Sania and Martina fought back, winning three back to back games, including a service break to equalise at 3-3. Not to be outdone, the French duo clinched another couple of breaks to take a 5-4 lead before serving out the set.

Caroline and Kristina started the second set with a bang, breaking the Indo-Swiss combination to go into the lead. Both teams then managed to hold their serve before Sania and Martina had an excellent chance to break their opponents' serve in the eighth game. The French pair however, fought back from 0-40 down to preserve their lead.

The top seeds had to fight hard before managing to hold on to their serve in the next game. But their relief was short lived as Caroline and Kristina served out the next game to clinch a well deserved victory.

--IANS

ajb/bg