Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor win the Men’s Doubles title – French Open 2011
The Belarusian Canadian duo of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor battled past unseeded pair of Colombian Juan Sebastian Cabal and Argentinean Eduardo Schwank in a three set thriller to win the Men’s Doubles title at Roland Garros 2011.
They registered a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 victory on Saturday to clinch the prestigious title.
Daniel Nestor retained his French Open title after overpowering the South Americans in two hours and seventeen minutes at Stade Roland Garros. Nestor won the title last year with Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic but this time he paired
up with Mirnyi to win their first Grand Slam title ever.
"It's unbelievable. Winning never gets old," stated Nestor after the match. "[The] biggest goal in my career is winning Grand Slams. Every time you win with a new partner, that first one is an amazing feeling. Today is no exception."
Second seeds, Mirnyi and Nestor, clobbered many double faults and produced a lower first sere share of 69 percent as compared to Cabal and Schwank’s 75 percent but they held their entire serves plausibly to drag the first set to
tie-breaker. The eventually prevailed in it to win the pocket the opener with a 7-6(3) win in just under an hour.
The first time pair on tour level, Cabal and Schwank, surprised everyone after upsetting top seeded Bryan brothers in the semis. They roared back in the second set and unleashed flurry of ground strokes to reel off first three
games in a row. Later, the Colombian Argentinean tandem held their remaining serves too bad the equaliser with a 6-3 score line in thirty-eight minutes. They produced a slightly higher first serve share and saved seven breakpoints conceded with their amazing
defensive skills. The lower ranked pair converted the only breakpoint opportunity to their advantage to clinch the set.
The Belarusian Canadian team fought hard in the decider and after holding their entire serves spectacularly, they broke their opponents’ serve in the tenth game to seal the final set with a 6-4 victory. They produced a much better
first serve share of 59 percent as compared to Colombian Argentinean pair’s 41 percent and they earned an amazing 88 percent win on it.
"Today was a dog fight," reflected the glorious Nestor. "We were fortunate to win the first set, and kind of let the opportunity slip away at the beginning of the second set… One thing we did well the whole tournament was keep
fighting. And no matter what happened the point before, missed opportunity, missed easy shot, we just played the next point and blocked it out of our mind. That's why we're the champs."
Mirnyi and Nestor had a superb start of the season as they made a semi-final berth at the first Grand Slam of the year i.e. in Melbourne, Australia. They then won their maiden team title at Memphis after dumping Butorac and Rojer.
Nestor has won his 800th doubles match and seventh Grand Slam title.
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