Bjorkman-Mirnyi, Knowles-Nestor Win Openers
© Getty Images By Sandra Harwitt
It was a straightforward day of doubles on Monday at the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai as both matches played were decided in straight sets.
In the first match played on the majestic stadium court at Qi Zhong Stadium, the second seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi scored a concise 6-3, 6-4 victory over eighth seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.
The outcome of this match was no surprise as the veteran Bjorkman-Mirnyi team had beaten Fyrstenberg and Matkowski in straight sets both times they’ve played in their careers, matches that took place earlier this year.
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Bjorkman and Mirnyi have a long history in doubles that goes back beyond their pairing together. In fact, Bjorkman actually has accumulated 49 career doubles titles, which is a record among active players on the ATP.
Their history together is working into a fairly impressive resume as well – they’ve won nine titles together, with five of those victories being posted this year. And among their 2006 booty are the Roland Garros, Masters Series Miami and Masters Series Cincinnati titles where they defeated the top seeded Bryan brothers.
© Getty Images Bjorkman and Mirnyi are making their second consecutive appearance together in the Tennis Masters Cup, and their fourth consecutive appearance overall.
When asked what keeps their doubles relationship going, Mirnyi had little difficulty responding: “I think the easiest and the most natural answer to this is to look at the results of teams. The ones that are satisfied with their results end up staying together, and the ones that tend to not work well together, they lose more matches; therefore, they look for different opportunities, different match-ups. That’s why teams break up. You normally don’t ever see teams separate when they had the results we’ve had the last two years.”
There was no question that Bjorkman and Mirnyi were in control of their opening match as they jumped out to an early lead in both sets.
In the first set, Bjorkman and Mirnyi took a 3-0 lead and held on to that advantage. In the second set, they took a 3-1 lead and held on to the advantage.
“I think we got off to a good start in both sets and didn’t make too many errors,” Bjorkman said. “The only few mistakes we did was at good times in the game, early in the games. I think we played a solid match in general…and took our chances and kept very solid at the net.”
If Bjorkman and Mirnyi had the upper hand throughout their match, it could be said that third seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor never even let fifth seeds Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjic crawl into their encounter.
© Getty Images In the opening set, the Knowles Nestor combo raced to a 4-1 lead, and in the second set they did even better by racing to a 5-1 lead.
“Obviously, that’s the best kind of start we could have hoped for,” Nestor said. “We played very solid…We’ve been playing very well throughout the fall. We’ve played a lot of matches, which helps. I think we’re one of the teams that the more we play, the better we play. “
Like Bjorkman and Mirnyi, the Knowles and Nestor tandem believe their track record together – they’ve won 37 titles together, including five this year – is a good reason to stay together. Another reason is they happen to be friends and get along well.
“We’ve had a lot of success together right from the beginning, which always helps a relationship,” Nestor said. “When you’re winning, things are usually better than when you’re not doing so well.
“Mark and I get along pretty much on and off the court. Some of the other teams are more business-type relationships.”
For Santoro, it was a disappointing outcome for the opening match being that he came into the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai as the defending champion – he won the title here last year with former partner, Michael Llodra.
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