ROME, Italy - Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-Jan will come into this year's French Open as heavy favorites after they clinched the Madrid/Rome double at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, winning their eighth straight match, 7-5, 7-6(4) over reigning Olympic champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in Sunday's final.
Hingis and Chan paired up at the start of the Middle East Swing and have quickly become the team to beat, winning two of the season's three Premier Mandatory titles at the BNP Paribas Open and Mutua Madrid Open, and reaching the semifinals at the Miami Open.
The Swiss Miss was playing her third straight final at the Foro Italico, having won the title last year with Sania Mirza; Hingis and Chan beat the former No.1 with new partner Yaroslava Shvedova en route to the championship match.
Across the net was last year's finalists and top seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, who were in their first final since winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships back in February.
Recovering from a 3-5 deficit in the second set, Hingis and Chan saved a set point to ultimately outlast the Russians in an ensuing tiebreak, taking home their fourth title of the season and become the first team to win both Rome and Madrid since 2012, when Italian duo Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani did it before winning their maiden major title at the French Open.
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