PARIS: Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova claimed the French Open women's doubles title on Sunday with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory over Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini - a day after the latter's crushing loss in the singles final.
The win was Siniakova's eighth women's Grand Slam doubles crown and Gauff's first. Paolini, who suffered a 6-2 6-1 defeat to Iga Swiatek on Saturday, was left looking dejected.
The first hour of the match was largely dictated by Errani and Siniakova's struggles on serve, as both were broken twice each, with the first set going into a tiebreaker.
A quick start there gave Paolini and Errani a 5-3 lead, but Siniakova raised her game to win some key points that turned the tide in her and Gauff's favour.
The Italians began the second set with real intensity, earning four break points in the first game, but Gauff and Siniakova battled back for a crucial hold before going up a break to take a 2-0 lead.
That appeared to take the wind out of Errani and Paolini's sails, and though they were able to twice bring the second set back on serve, Gauff and Siniakova broke to take a 5-3 lead.
Gauff, who has often struggled with her revamped serve in recent months, showed no nerves when it mattered most and comfortably held on to clinch the win. - Reuters