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Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina's dream of winning the French Open will have to wait for a year as the much fancied no.7 seeds were soundly beaten in the women's doubles final on Friday afternoon by the unseeded Czech pairing of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-3. The Indo-Russian pair failed to recreate the magic from their early round triumphs and having beaten the top seeds and the no.4 seeds enroute to the final will be exceptionally disappointed with their performance on the day. The match took just 81 minutes as the Czech girls earned a very much deserved victory.

The Indo-Russian duo got off to a shaky start as they were made to work in Vesnina's opening service game, finally holding on after a bit of a struggle. The unseeded pair in contrast looked much more comfortable as Hradecka held with relative ease to even out the set at 1-1. Sania Mirza's serve has traditionally been the one under pressure over the fortnight and she dropped her opening service game to fall behind 2-1.

Mirza-Vesnina had a glimpse of an opening at 30-30 in Hlavackova's service game, but the 24-year old fired two huge serves to wrap up the game and consolidate the break. The Czech girls were well and truly on top when they broke Vesnina this time and a game later looked in complete control having taken a 5-1 lead.

The set appeared to be heading for an early finish as in the seventh game Mirza offered her opponents three set points, but they failed to capitalize as she managed to hang on in a dramatic game. The no.7 seeds engineered a mini-comeback as they broke back and then Vesnina held to take the score to 5-4, forcing the Czechs to serve out the set. But the scratch pairing held their nerve when it really mattered to close out the set 6-4.

Hlavackova and Hradecka carried the confidence in the ensuing set as they once again broke early for a 2-0 lead. However, Mirza - Vesnina were not going down without a fight, and broke right back to square things up at 2-2. The Vesnina serve, usually so reliable faltered in the fifth game and this time the Czexh's did consolidate the break for a 4-2 lead.

The unseeded pair gave the no.7 seeds a real hiding and despite their pockets of excellence, Sania - Vesnina were no match to their much more focused adversaries. Vesnina was to drop serve one more time as the Czech's wrapped up the set 6-3 and with it their first ever Grand Slam title.

File Photograph Copyright: Madrid Open