Llodra-Santoro
Meet Paes-Zimonjic in Final
Paes & Zimonjic Although they are rivals in this final, next year Santoro and Zimonjic will be competing on the same side of the net – the pair will be teaming up in 2006. Llodra plans to concentrate on singles, while Paes will play with Martin Damm. Sunday's final will be best-of-three sets.
The teams have split their two career meetings, both of which were this year. The Frenchmen won 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of Masters Series Hamburg but Paes and Zimonjic had their revenge later in the year with a 7-6, 7-5 win in the Masters Series Madrid semifinals.
Paes/Zimonjic (Team Profile)
This team have reached the TMC final on their debut in the tournament. In Red Group play, they defeated Knowles/Nestor 75 57 63 and Arthurs/Hanley 76 76 before losing to the Bryan brothers 75 67(5) 76(7) after holding a match point in the third set tiebreak. In the semifinals, they defeated 2004 runners-up Black/Ullyett 63 64.
Paes has played in a year-end event four times previously with countryman Mahesh Bhupathi, a run that included three appearances in the final. A win today however would give him his first year-end title.
Prior to 2005, Paes/Zimonjic had paired together just once, winning the title in Delray Beach in 2003. This year they have compiled a 29-18 record together through the round robin here, claiming back-to-back titles in Barcelona and at AMS Monte Carlo in April. This Indian-Serbian team also reached back-to-back finals in Stockholm and AMS Madrid in October. They were semifinalists at AMS Hamburg and in the season-opening event in Chennai. Paes picked up a third title this year when he teamed with Paul Hanley to win in Bangkok.
Llodra/Santoro (Team Profile)
The Frenchmen are appearing in their second Tennis Masters Cup final, having lost to Bob and Mike Bryan 67 63 36 76 64 in Houston in 2003, a result they reversed when they defeated the Bryans in the semifinals here on Saturday 63 76(7). In Gold Group round robin action, Llodra/Santoro lost to Black/Ullyett 36 63 64 in their opening match then defeated Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi 76(3) 64 in their second match. They then defeated Huss/Moodie 64 41 ret. when Huss suffered a right knee injury. They are back at the TMC after missing last year’s event due to Santoro’s wrist injury.
They are attempting to become the first French winners of the year-end championship since Guy Forget teamed with Jakob Hlasek to win the title in 1990. An all-French pair has never won the year-end championship, although in addition to Llodra and Santoro’s runner-up finish in 2003, Forget and Yannick Noah reached the final of the 1986 Masters Doubles (London) before losing to Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd.
In 2005, Llodra/Santoro had their quest for a third straight Australian Open title snapped in the quarterfinals. They qualified for the TMC thanks to a very strong year at ATP Masters Series events. In addition to a win at AMS Rome and a runner-up result at AMS Hamburg, this team reached the semifinals at AMS Cincinnati and AMS Monte Carlo. They also claimed two titles late in the year on home soil in Metz and Lyon. Llodra’s a big-serving lefty, and Santoro is nicknamed “The Magician” for his racquet wizardry. Llodra, who was a singles finalist at ’s-Hertogenbosch, reached the doubles final in Sydney with countryman Arnaud Clement. Santoro also reached the doubles final in Dubai with Jonas Bjorkman.
Semifinals Review
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