Russians Triumph In Doubles Final
Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina upset top seeds and defending champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci to win the French Open title.
Published June 09, 2013 12:01
PARIS, France - Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina upset the odds and the defending champions to win the doubles title at Roland Garros on Sunday.
Over the past two seasons, Makarova and Vesnina have been among the leading WTA doubles teams, but prior to this fortnight had yet to taste Grand Slam success. However, against Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, they finally laid these ghosts to rest with two sets of near-flawless clay court tennis.
After breaking in the penultimate game to edge a tight opening set, the Russians reeled off four in a row at the start of the second to take a stranglehold of the match. It was a grip they would not relinquish, wrapping up a 75 62 win when Vesnina put away one final overhead on match point.
It was a clinical end to what had been a flawless fortnight - the No.4 seeds did not drop a set en route to the title.
"Honestly, for us, it's a surprise that we didn't drop a set for the whole tournament, because it was a really difficult tournament," Vesnina said. "It's always tough to even win one match here."
Makarova and Vesnina first joined forces on Fed Cup duty five years ago, but have only been a regular partnership since the start of 2012, and they now have four titles together.
"We have been together since last year, and I think we are a good team," Vesnina added. "We understand each other pretty good and have a lot of confidence right now.
"We've had some good wins this year and also last year, so maybe this win has brought us some confidence. And we were playing really good today in the final."
It was the first time the duo had got the better of Errani and Vinci, who had won the teams' last four encounters, including a quarterfinal in Paris 12 months ago.
"I think we're extra happy because we beat them for the first time. We played a lot of times against them and they're the best team in the world," Makarova added. "They're playing so good, so it's really tough to play against them, especially on clay.
"I'm so happy that we played so solid today and played exactly how we wanted to. We kept all the time to our game strategy and it worked today really well. It's a great feeling to win our first Grand Slam."
Victory also brought to an end an unenviable run in Grand Slam finals for Vesnina, who had previously lost three mixed and three women's doubles finals. "All these Grand Slam finals that I had were great memories and great experiences for me," she said. "Every time they were close matches, and the opponents were just a little bit more lucky or they deserved that win more than me.
"This time me and Katia were really feeling good together. We were feeling each other. We were helping each other and supporting each other on the court. We were not thinking it was a final or a Grand Slam, we were just thinking that we have to beat them and we have to keep playing our game, not changing anything and believing in ourselves.
"I think it was a great final and two close sets. It was fun to play, and I think for the people it was fun to watch, or I hope so, at least!"
"That's the way the world works... right now." --Maria Sharapova at 17
