Top-Seeded Men’s Doubles Team of Mirnyi and Nestor Win French Open Crown
June 11, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
The top-seeded doubles team of Max Mirnyi of Belarus & Daniel Nestor of Canada defeated Bob & Mike Bryan, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to win their second consecutive French Open doubles title together. If the Bryans had won, they would have set a record for most in the Open era. They were looking to win their 12th Grand Slam doubles championship. The twins also lost in this year’s Australian Open final against Leander Paes & Radek Stepanek. Mirnyi and Nestor did not drop a single set in six matches of this year’s French Open.
"Unbelievable. It’s a great feeling," said Nestor. "It might have been not the best match by some of us on the court today, including myself and definitely them. But Max was very solid from start to finish. He played great. He carried us. That was important today."
The Bryans won their first major title at the French Open in 2003 when they defeated Paul Haarhuis & Yevgeny Kafelnikov. In 2005 and 2006, they were runner-ups, losing both times to Mirnyi & Jonas Bjorkman.
"Today just wasn’t our day," said Bob Bryan. "They came out aggressive and hit some good shots. I was a little bit cold and heavy at the beginning and maybe it caught us a little bit off guard. It’s disappointing because we had been playing some really good ball. But they hit some great serves when they needed it."
Mirnyi has now won six Grand Slam men’s doubles titles, four of them at Roland Garros. He also won the U.S. Open in 2000 with Lleyton Hewitt and again in 2002 with Mahesh Bhupathi. Nestor now has a total of eight major championships in men’s doubles. This is his fourth win at the French Open, including 2007 with Mark Knowles and 2010 with Nenad Zimonjic. In 2002 Nestor and Knowles claimed the Australian Open doubles title and the U.S. Open title in 2004. Nestor also won two Wimbledon doubles titles with Zimonjic in 2008 and 2009.
