Sania-Vesnina finish runners up at French Open

Paris: India's Sania Mirza will have to wait some more for a women's doubles Grand Slam title after she, partnering Elena Vesnina, lost 4-6, 3-6 Friday to unheralded Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the French Open here.

Hlavackova and Hradecka are the sixth unseeded team to capture a major in three decades and are the second unseeded French Open finalists in 30 years.

They collect euros 330,000 while Sania and Elena take home euros 165,000.

The win put the two finalists 1-1 head-to-head. They had previously met once in the first round at Indian Wells with Sania and Elena winning in straight sets.

Sania had created history Wednesday when she became the first Indian woman to enter a Grand Slam doubles final. She and Elena upset top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pannetta and then beat fourth seeds American Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond to enter the final.

Sania and Elena, both 24, came together early in 2011 and with titles at Indian Wells and Charleston, were having a good year on the circuit, by holding a 20-4 record.

The two, however, failed to keep their unforced errors under check on a windy Friday to go down in one hour and 22 minutes. They struggled at the net and were found wanting against the two Czechs' powerful groundstrokes.

The Czechs, who had not lost a set in the tournament, also had better first serve percentage of 76 as compared to their opponents' 49.

Hlavackova and Hradecka broke the seventh seeds in the third and the fifth game of the first set for a 5-1 lead and held three set points on Sania's serve before the Indian held.

A few errors from the Czechs helped Sania and Elena to bridge the gap to 5-4 but Hradecka held her service game to go up a set.

The two pairs exchanged early breaks in the second set but Elena dropped her serve in the fifth game to swing the match in the Czechs' favour. They broke Elena again in the ninth game, when the Russian hit a forehand long, to win the set and title and broke into tears of joy.

Elena said it was a great experience reaching the final here and hoped to win a Grand Slam title soon.

"I thank Sania, our team and everyone who supported us. It has been a great two weeks for us. It was a great experience. I am sure we will have more wins on our way and I am hopeful we will make it some day," said Elena.

The Russian was the only one of the four finalists to have earlier played in a Grand Slam women's doubles final, having been runner-up at the 2009 French Open alongside Victoria Azarenka and in 2010 Wimbledon alongside Vera Zvonareva.

Sania had lifted a Grand Slam title, winning the Australian Open mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009 after losing the final the previous year. — IANS