Tennis: Baker and Stephen lift doubles title

New Zealanders Leanne Baker and Shelley Stephen have combined to take the doubles title of the US$10,000 ($17,259) ITF Women's tennis tournament in Spoleto, Italy.

Top seeds Baker and Stephens beat the unseeded pairing of Kika Hogendoorn of the Netherlands and Betina Pirker of Austria 6-3 3-6 7-5.

Seventh seeded Baker lost the singles final to Lenka Snajdrova of the Czech Republic 4-6 3-6.

New Zealand men's No 1 Mark Nielsen and Taipei doubles partner Yen-Hsun Lu had to withdraw in the second set of the final at the US$15,000 men's futures event in Saitama, Japan.

Lu broke down with their combination having lost the first set 4-6 and with the second tied at 3-3.

- NZPA