Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins win St Petersburg Open

Fleming and Hutchins had never won a title together before

British pair Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins claimed the doubles title at the St Petersburg Open after beating Mikhail Elgin and Alexander Kudryatsev.

The pair served out to win 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 10-8 in one hour and 51 minutes.

Hutchins said: "They're good tennis players so it was a tough match and we're happy to get this one."

Elsewhere, Elena Baltacha was beaten 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 by Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm in the final of the French ITF $100,000 event in Poitiers.

The British number one is likely to be ranked back inside the world's top 50 when the new WTA standings are released on Monday, despite being beaten by the 41-year-old Date-Krumm.

The Scot, who achieved her highest ranking of 49 in September 2010, said this season had been the best of her career.

"My big goal for the year was to defend the ranking points I had coming off and keep my ranking up, so to have done that and got back inside the top 50 again feels like a really big achievement," she said.

"I knew that I would have to improve this year to do that and I have. This has definitely been the best year of my career, no question.

"With the Olympics and all the other tournaments coming up, 2012 could be a massive year for me and it will be great to start it ranked around 50."

Fleming and Hutchins' success comes after they reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open as well as the last four at Eastbourne, Atlanta and Metz.

The British duo saved seven of eight break points they faced, while the Russians were broken twice in eight opportunities.

"It's a fantastic day for us," Hutchins told www.atptennis.com. "We've played Alexander and Mikhail about four times in the past 12 months and all were very close matches, so we knew they would play very well and bring a high level."

Fleming added: "We're very happy to win and be the champions of St Petersburg this year. It's really quite big for us. It's a nice tournament and a great city, so we love to come and play here."

While it is the pair's first title together, they had both previously claimed two wins.

Fleming won in St Petersburg and Metz two years ago with Ken Skupski, while Hutchins won in Montpellier last year and Beijing in 2008 with Stephen Huss.

In the men's singles final, Croatian Marin Cilic saw off Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-3 3-6 6-2.