Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis’s French Open hopes were dealt a blow as the top-ranked pair went down 4-6, 4-6 to fifth seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday. This is the second consecutive final loss for the Indo-Swiss pair to the French combine after having succumbed in the Stuttgart Open summit clash as well.
Hingis and Mirza, who triumphed at Wimbledon, US Open and the Australian Open, are seeking to win the Roland Garros this summer to complete the Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam.
First set
The first set was an absolute breakfast which witnessed as many as seven breaks of serve from the two teams. Garcia and Mladenovic, riding on the confidence of winning the Charleston as well as the Stuttgart Open titles, were the first one to draw blood as they quickly went up 3-0.
Mirza and Hingis, however, regrouped and struck back with two consecutive breaks back and the set was all square at 3-3.
The trend continued as they traded breaks again and Garcia and Mladenovic went up 5-4. The fifth seeds, however, did not falter while serving out the set for a 6-4 lead.
Second set
If the top seeds were hoping for a fresh start in the second set, they were in for a disappointment as they could not hold their serve in the very first game of the set.
Despite pressure from the Indo-Swiss duo, the French girls held on and marched ahead to a 4-2 advantage.
With Garcia and Mladenovic serving at 4-3, the top seeds had three chances to get the set back on level terms but they squandered them all.
The Indo-Swiss duo saved a match point to hold on for 4-5 but the French duo needed just one more service game to complete the 6-4, 6-4 victory in 1 hour 28 minutes.
Bopanna in semis
There is still another chance for an Indian to win a Madrid title this year as Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea reached the men's doubles finals late on Saturday. The defending champions beat Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, 7-5, 6-7, 12-10.
