Tennis: Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina claimed their maiden grand slam title together by beating Italian top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 7-5 6-2 in the French Open women’s doubles final yesterday. The fourth-seed Russian pair, beaten by Errani and Vinci in the Australian Open semi-finals this year, clinched four games in succession in the second set, wrapping it up with a Vesnina overhead.

Sailing: Safety concerns following the death of sailor Andrew Simpson have resulted in the schedule for the America’s Cup being reduced. The safety recommendations, following team feedback requesting more time for maintenance between races, has seen the number of preliminary rounds reduced from seven to five. It means there will be fewer races in the Louis Vuitton Cup. The winner of the round robin will take on the defending crew of Oracle Team USA in the final two-boat America’s Cup match races in September.

Ice Hockey: The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in double overtime on Saturday to win the series and join the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup final. The Blackhawks completed a 4-1 series win over the Kings, who won the Cup last season, to claim the Western Conference for the first time since winning the NHL championship in 2010. Chicago will have home-ice advantage for the best-of-seven series with the Bruins because they had the better regular season record.

Golf: Phil Mickelson gave himself a timely boost for this week’s US Open at Merion Golf Club by charging into contention for the St Jude Classic with a sizzling display of low scoring in Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday. The American left-hander fired a sparkling five-under-par 65 in the third round at the TPC Southwind, ending the day five shots off the pace after starting it eight strokes adrift.