INFOS
South American delight in men's doubles
Sunday, June 8, 2008
It was quite simply unthinkable! Nobody thought that Luis Horna and Pablo Cuevas had even an outside chance of taking the French Open title. The two men had never played together before treading the Parisian clay, and are not known for being great specialists. But in a spectacular display of beginners… luck the Peruvian (No 43 in the world) and the Uruguayan (number 50) came up trumps.
Even more incredible is that Horna had only ever won one men's doubles match in 13 Grand Slam tournaments before now! But with the talented Cuevas by his side, they had a fantastic run, knocking out phenomenal pairings left, right and centre. Clement and Llodra were the first casualties in the opening round, then Dlouhy and Paes, followed by the formidable Bryan brothers. In yesterday's final they got the better of No2 seeds Daniel Nestor (who held the title with Marc Knowles) and Nenad Zimonjic in just 52 minutes (6-2 6-3).
Following in Gomez's footsteps
Horna and Cuevas… win on Centre Court, just after the women's final, was the first ever men's doubles Grand Slam trophy won by an all-South American team. Andres Gomez is the only other person to have taken the doubles title in a major tournament, in the US Open in 1986 with Slobodan Zivojinovic, and then at Roland Garros in 1988 with Emilio Sanchez. In fact, Ecuadorian left-hander Gomez had the pleasure of presenting the trophy to the stunned champions, who were at a loss to explain their incredible victory.
…It's fantastic! I would like to thank Pablo (Cuevas) for this incredible fortnight. It's the best title of my career,… Luis Horna exclaimed, overcome with emotion, just before the tears started falling. 'It's the tournament I'd always dreamed of winning,… Cuevas continued, microphone in hand. 'It's amazing. I'd like to thank all the people who have supported us, from Peru to Uruguay.…
Nenad Zimonjic had hoped to win a second Grand Slam title for Serbia, but just one hour after countrywoman Ana Ivanovic's success, he found himself bowing out of the final. Just like he had the day before in the mixed doubles…
By Eric Frosio & Jenny Aitken
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