Henin Rocks Pierce, Bjorkman/Mirnyi Win French Open Doubles

Posted on June 5, 2005

Henin-Hardenne Rolls Pierce for Second French Open Title

Former No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne won her second French Open title in three years Saturday, steamrolling pressured Frenchwoman Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 for the Roland Garros women's title.

"I think it wasn't an easy situation for her," Henin-Hardenne said. "She had to deal with a lot of pressure. Being here in the final in France, I think it's not easy for her. And probably she didn't play her best tennis and she didn't play the best match of two weeks. But I think I've pushed her a lot."

The win raised Henin-Hardenne's career mark to 4-0 against the nervous-looking Pierce, who insisted after the match she didn't suffer from nerves.

"It's always difficult when you lose a match, and it's always difficult when you don't play well because it's not as fun, you know," Pierce said. "It's hard to enjoy it when you keep missing and playing bad. And Justine on the other side of the court was just really playing a good match."

Earlier in the event the Belgian saved two match points against Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova in an eventual three-set win.

"Maybe you have to win this kind of match to go to the end of a Grand Slam," Henin-Hardenne said. "But it's been two fantastic weeks for myself. It's not especially on the court. I think off court, too, I've been very calm, very quiet. I enjoy every time. I love to come here in Paris, so it's been unbelievable. Paris will remain forever very special tournament for myself."

Henin-Hardenne is projected to move back into the Top 10 on the WTA Tour Rankings at No. 7 on Monday.

The slam win was a sweet return to near-top form for the Belgian, who still suffers from the effects of the energy-sapping cytomegalovirus that first emerged early in her 2004 claycourt season and forced her to abandon her year after the 2004 US Open.

Bjorkman/Mirnyi Edge Bryan Brothers for French Open Title

Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi won their first grand slam title as a team Saturday, defeating the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, from a set down 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the French Open men's doubles final.

The No. 2 seeds took the momentum in the second set when the No. 3-seeded American twins dropped their first two service games, then were eventually broken at 3-3 in the third set.

"It's an awesome feeling, to achieve, to win all four grand slams was something in the beginning that I never really expected," said Bjorkman, who completed his career slam collection with the French title. "Honestly, going into the match day, I was a bit nervous. I started off not that good, and managed to regroup and be sharp in the next two sets...It is an awesome achievement."

For Mirnyi the win ended years of frustration at Roland Garros.

"I've been here three times in the semifinal before and haven't been able to come over that hump," Mirnyi said.

The Swedish/Belarussian pair were 0-2 this year against the Bryan brothers entering the match, and take home their third title of the year after Masters Series wins at Miami and Hamburg.

Bob Bryan conceded that luck wasn't on their side and that their opponents had gotten a "little better."

"We've had some bad luck in finals," Bob Bryan said. "They're a strong team and you have to play really well to beat them...They're definitely getting a little better."

Sunday's singles final at Roland Garros will feature No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal against unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta.
 
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Justine Henin-Hardenne has won 24 straight matches after claiming her fourth career Slam and second Roland Garros title...Mary Pierce's two games in the final were the lowest since Steffi Graf blew out Natasha Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in the 1988 Roland Garros final...Did anyone catch Rafael Nadal hitting with Mats Wilander on the practice courts Saturday? Good stuff, just hope the teen didn't get hurt...Gustavo Kuerten is still on site hitting balls...Rafael Nadal will equal H-H's 24-match win streak with the RG title. Nadal will also try to become the first player to win Roland Garros in his debut since Mats Wilanders in 1982. The last player to win in his debut at a Slam was Andre Agassi at the 1995 Australian Open. He had never even played juniors there, like Nadal here at Roland Garros...Weather for Sunday: Chance of rain...With a win Sunday, Rafael Nadal will become the new leader in the ATP Champions Race moving ahead of Roger Federer. Think Federer is sleeping well? What about Tony Roche?...The last all-lefty French Open final was in 1946 (Bernard d. Drobny)...After losing the Tennis Masters Cup, Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale is probably feeling a bit better knowing he won't have to promote Nikolay Davydenko and Mariano Puerta while Andre Agassi and perhaps Andy Roddick fail to qualify...Mariano Puerta beat Rafael Nadal two years ago at a Challenger...Justine Henin-Hardenne's coach Carlos Rodriguez on the Belgian wanting to reach No. 1 this year: "No. As I said before the tournament, this is a transition year for us. We still don't know how Justine is going to recuperate and how she will be feeling in the coming weeks. We need another 6 or 8 weeks before the niggling injury worries are behind us. It's fabulous to have won the French Open but we have to keep our feet on the ground. A champion's health is often very fragile...and you have to preserve it."...Justine Henin-Hardenne on her plans for the grasscourt season: "I'm going to pull out from Eastbourne and hope to be ready for Wimbledon. That's going to be the plan. I have at least 10 days off for my injury, and I have to take this rest because my body is a little bit tired. It's been a lot of matches in the last few weeks. I won't do the same mistakes as in the past. I'm very sad about this decision, but I have to take it if I want to be ready for Wimbledon."...Mary Pierce will climb to No. 13 in the rankings next week, cracking the Top 15 for the first time since April 2001...Daniel Nestor has damaged ligaments in his wrist and is likely out for two months...Roger Federer says he will not defend his homecountry Gstaad claycourt title following Wimbledon.