Italian Open: Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis capture season's fifth title

New Delhi: World No. 1 women's doubles team of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis captured the Italian Open title by beating Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6(5)-7, 10-3 in the final on Sunday.

After winning the first set in 24 minutes, the top seeds lost the second sets in tie-breaker in 57 minutes. But they regrouped well to win the decider 10-3 in just 12 minutes.

This was the season's fifth title for the Indo-Swiss pair after Sydney, Brisbane, Australian Open and St Petersburg. And the win at Rome will serve as a major boost to their bid to win the French Open starting from next week.

Yesterday, Mirza and Hingis beat Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu in straight sets to moved into their third consecutive clay court final.

With the victory, Hingis and Mirza also captured their 14th women's doubles title together. It was also their first title win since the end of their incredible 41-match winning streak in Doha in February.

Heading into the French Open, the world number one pair will look o complete a SanTina Slam — after their Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open wins.