Italians Errani and Vavassori cruise to French Open mixed doubles title

PARIS - Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy swept to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Americans Taylor Townsend and Evan King on Court Philippe Chatrier to claim the French Open mixed doubles crown on Thursday.

Errani and Vavassori claimed their second mixed doubles Grand Slam crown, with the first coming at the U.S. Open last year where they also defeated Townsend and her longtime former partner Donald Young.

The title was a seventh overall in Grand Slam doubles for Errani, who also has five womens doubles Grand Slam victories.

Congratulations to Evan and Taylor, it was so tough to play against you. We had to study a lot, said Errani, who also plays in the womens doubles semi-finals alongside Jasmine Paolini on Friday.

Thanks to Andrea, to my best friend, its so much fun to play with you. Youre an amazing person and its so special to be here with you.

The Italian duo were tested early in the first set but saved two breakpoints to secure a tight hold at 1-1, before grabbing the decisive break and taking a 4-3 lead when Townsend sent a forehand wide.

Errani and Vavassori dialled up the intensity to overwhelm their opponents, twice breaking serve in the second set before Townsend netted a volley to give the third seeds a dominant win.

Its unbelievable to be in another Grand Slam final together, said Vavassori, whose win helped make up for the disappointment of losing the French Open mens doubles final last year.

We had an amazing run, the U.S. Open was a dream come true and we love to play together.

The American pairing looked disjointed throughout the match and racked up 25 unforced errors, almost three times as many as Errani and Vavassoris nine.

Thank you guys for cheering us on