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Double pleasure for Bjorkman - Mirnyi Second-seeded Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi lifted their second Grand Slam trophy on Saturday after successfully defending their Roland Garros crown. The Swede and Belarusian (who remain undefeated at Roland Garros, having won 10 straight matches in the past two years), overcame a first set deficit to post a 6-7(5) 6-4 7-5 triumph over US twin brothers Mike and Bob Bryan (No1) in two hours and 30 minutes. "It's sweet to win back to back. One or two points made the difference today," said Bjorkman, who has captured all four finals he entered this season alongside different partners. "It's always nice with repeats. So, yeah, it's been great two weeks. I think clay is the surface that we really are doing well. We do well on all surfaces, but I think our strength on clay comes even out better. "It was a big battle between two of the top teams. This is as good as doubles get." The Bryan brothers were through to their sixth consecutive Grand Slam doubles final, the first men's doubles team in the Open era to do so. They were the first team to win back-to-back Grand Slam titles since Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge (who collected the 2003 Wimbledon and US Open trophies). In the first set, both teams comfortably held their respective serves. At 5-4 up, Bjorkman squandered a golden opportunity to snatch the first set, misfiring badly on his backhand return. The two teams went toe to toe until the tiebreaker where Bjorkman double-faulted to hand the first set to the Americans. Relying on some fine returning, the Swedish veteran and Belarusian broke back in the fifth game of the second set to level the match at one set apiece. In the ensuing set, Bjorkman (who has won seven other majors in doubles), and Mirnyi made the difference in the twelfth game. They took their opponent's delivery for one last time, the Swede serving it out in commanding fashion in the following game. In 2006, Bjorkman and Mirnyi have also clinched back-to-back titles in Miami and Monte Carlo. Fourteen of Bjorkman's 46 career doubles crowns came alongside Australian Todd Woodbridge. The Swede has won at least one doubles title every year since taking his first in 1994. Mirnyi lifted
his 29th career doubles trophy on Saturday
Araz Gulekjian |