Williams Sisters Win Doubles

Venus and Serena Williams took home the French Open women's doubles title on Sunday, but it didn't relieve the pain of going out in the singles tournament.

"No, I don't feel better," Venus said. Her younger sister said she was still "pretty bitter and resentful."

The Williams sisters, both knocked out of the singles in the first week, beat Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 8-6 in the doubles final.

The first set came easy to the Americans, who broke Kournikova's service once on the way to a 6-3 win.

"They were killing us in the beginning. We had no rhythm, didn't know what to do out there," Hingis said.

In the second set, the Williams gained a 4-1 lead when play was suspended for rain. After a 20-minute delay, Hingis and Kournikova came out fighting.

Serena Williams served for the match at 6-5 and 5-2 but failed both times.

"We actually should have finished it off in two sets, I'm sure everyone knows," Serena said.

What happened, according to the sisters, was an overdose of confidence.

"We were like, `yeah, we're going to get this,"' Venus said. "After a while, we were too tight."

Hingis and Kournikova dominated the second-set tiebreak, clinching it when Serena put a volley wide.

"The match turned around a lot," Hingis said. "We were one point away from losing it earlier, then winning it again."

In the third set, Hingis and Kournikova got what seemed like a key break of service at 4-4. But Kournikova, who struggled with her serves all afternoon, failed to finish off the match.

At 5-4 she double-faulted at 30-15 and, after the Americans had saved a match point, again on break point.

At 6-7 the Russian was again the culprit losing the game to love.

On match point, a backhand return from Venus was too strong for Kournikova who volleyed into the net.

"We just didn't have that little edge at the end so that we could have finished," Kournikova said.

The Williams said that they never underestimated Hingis' will to win even after her loss in the singles final on Saturday.

"I'm sure after not winning the singles title yesterday, she would really want to come out and win doubles," Venus said. "You want something for all your hard work."

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