Madrid:Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis lost in straight sets to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the women’s doubles final of the Madrid Masters 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, recording their second straight win over Mirza and Hingis in a final after defeating them in the title clash of the Stuttgart Open.
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.
Mirza and Hingis 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 duo to take the lead. Both teams then managed to hold their serve before Mirza and Hingis had an excellent chance to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game. The French pair however, fought back from 0-40 down to hold on.
The top seeds had to fight hard before managing to hold 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.
