Bjorkman & Mirnyi Edge Knowles-Nestor in Gold Group
© Getty Images By Sandra Harwitt
It didn’t come easy for Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, but they improved their record in the Gold Group to 2-0 with a hard fought 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) win over Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor.
The match was a constant nail-biter as both teams were battling for a 2-0 record in the group. But in the end, it was Knowles and Nestor who had to settle for a 1-1 record.
“Well, we're very happy and pleased with the win because we had some tough matches this year with them - winning some, losing some,” Bjorkman said. “The problem we had is that we've been coming off to bad starts every time we play them, and it's not ideal when you play such a good team. The good part was that we fought well and that's a strength in our team. We managed to come back. With a little bit of luck, we managed to win that second set and turn the match around.
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“In the third I think we were the team who had more chances and closer to come up a break. You know, we just finished it off with a great tiebreak.”
© Getty Images It took a monumental effort but Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjic (audio) elevated themselves to 1-1 in the Red Group with a 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 win over Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, a win that took two hours, 15 minutes to earn.
For Santoro, who won this title with Michael Llodra last year, a partnership where the partners get along is an essential ingredient.
“It doesn’t matter who’s playing well, who’s playing not very well this day,” Santoro said. “We have to be a team and just try to be positive even when we are in trouble.
“When I’m playing bad, he’s here to support me, and if he’s in a bad day, I’m here to support him. We have to try to be positive and take the chance when they are there.”
And the partnership between him and Zimonjic seems to be working well in their debut season together.
After taking the first set, Santoro and Zimonjic surrendered a 4-2 lead in the second set to eventually lose the set in the tiebreaker. Racing to a 4-1 lead in the third set, the twosome was able to hold on to their advantage to place themselves at 1-1 in the round-robin standings.
And in case you’re wondering if Santoro and Zimonjic are hanging out off the court – they had dinner just the other night with Santoro picking up the check. But Santoro made sure to say that it would be Zimonjic’s turn to pay on Wednesday night.
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