The British duo, appearing at their fourth Grand Slam in 11 months, narrowly lost a first-set tie-break to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and Martina Trevisan but stormed back brilliantly to win the second set 6-1.

An absorbing third set saw Barnett and Nicholls recover from an early break to level at 4-4 before Paolini and Trevisan won the last two games, saving a break point, to edge the match 7-6(5) 1-6 6-4 after two hours and 39 minutes of terrific tennis on Court 11.

A first set full of momentum swings established the tone, with Barnett and Nicholls being broke in their second and third service games but responding immediately on both occasions.

An epic 11th game lasting almost nine minutes went to deuce four times and saw the Brits save a break point before eventually going 6-5 up. Paolini and Trevisan took the set to a tie-break, though, and a double fault on set point ensured the Italians came out on top 7-5.

Barnett – coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village – and Nicholls quickly put that disappointment behind them as they broke to love in the opening game of the second set. They went on to break twice more during a dominant spell and win 6-1 to take the match to a decisive third set.

It was Paolini and Trevisan’s turn to break to love in the opening game and regain the initiative but Barnett and Nicolls hit back in the eighth game, converting their third break point to level at 4-4.

However, the Italians broke again and then saved a break point in their last service game to finally see off the battling Brits, who will now turn their attention to the grass-court season and Wimbledon.

Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about the Pro Tennis Team, part of Team Bath’s all-encompassing tennis programme.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office

The result sees Barnett, coached by Ian MacDonald, move up to a career-high doubles ranking of 119 in the world and number three in Great Britain.

The British duo, who reached the Lyon Open final on their WTA Tour debut last month, were number one seeds for the ITF World Tennis Tour event in Switzerland and lived up to that billing, only losing one set on their way to the final.

After beating the home pairing of Natalia Vikhlyantseva and Simona Waltert 6-3 7-6(4), Barnett and Nicholls overcame Switzerland’s Jenny Duerst and Carole Monnet of France 6-1 3-6 10-8 before defeating former Team Bath junior Emily Webley-Smith and her Swiss partner Leonie Kung 6-1 7-6(3) in the semi-finals.

That set up a trophy showdown with Swiss number two seeds Xenia Knoll and Oksana Selekhmeteva, who took the first set before the Brits battled back brilliantly to claim their first-ever W60 title with a 6-7(7) 6-4 10-7 success.

Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about the all-encompassing tennis programme at Team Bath.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd