Dellacqua, Barty lose French Open final

Australians Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty have been beaten 6-2 6-1 in the French Open doubles final by top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

Ashleigh Barty (L) and Casey Dellacqua of Australia

Australians Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty have been beaten in the French Open doubles final. (AAP)

Australian tennis stars Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty have completed a rare grand slam set - just not the one they crave.

Dellacqua and Barty fell one win shy of an elusive grand slam women's crown on Sunday night, succumbing 6-2 6-1 to top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova in the French Open final at Roland Garros.

The first all-Australian women's pairing to make the title match in Paris in 46 years, Dellacqua and Barty were outclassed in 66 minutes.

The Fed Cup teammates have now lost the final at all four majors, having been runners-up at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2013 - and are yet to win a grand slam women's doubles title.

Sunday's defeat extended Dellacqua's particularly frustrating run to none from seven in major finals.

The West Australian also lost the 2008 final in Paris with Francesca Schiavone, as well as the 2015 championship deciders at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows with Yaraslava Shvedova.

Dellacqua does have one slam to ger credit, though, winning the French Open mixed event with American Scott Lipsky in 2011, the same year Barty claimed the Wimbledon junior title at just 15.

Despite coming up short yet again, it's been a successful campaign for the two Australians after both looked lost to tennis not so long ago.

Dellacqua, now 32, was sidelined for more than a year after being concussed in an on-court fall in late 2015 while Barty quit the sport in 2014 to switch to cricket before returning to her first love prior to Wimbledon last year.

Dellacqua and Barty will each pocket 125,000 euros ($A245,000) for their efforts.

For Mattek-Sands and Safarova, it was a fifth grand slam title together - and third in a row after also reigning at the US Open last year and the Australian Open in January.

Ranked No.1 and No.2 in the world respectively, the American-Czech combination can complete a non-calendar-year grand slam at Wimbledon next month.


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Source: AAP



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