Llodra-Santoro End Bryans' Reign;
Meet Paes-Zimonjic in Final
Llodra & Santoro Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro will meet Leander
Paes and Nenad Zimonjic in the final of the 2005 Tennis
Masters Cup in Shanghai after the French duo ended the two-year
reign of top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinals.
Llodra and Santoro stunned the two-time defending champions with
a 6-3, 7-6(7) victory, avenging their loss against the Americans
in the 2003 Tennis Masters Cup final in Houston.
Doubles Final Preview
The Bryan brothers, who saved a match point in their final Round
Robin match against Paes and Zimonjic to reach the semifinals,
saved two more against Llodra and Santoro in the second set tie-break
but failed to prevent the French team converting their third.
Earlier in the day, Paes and Zimonjic cruised through to their
first Tennis Masters Cup final as a team with a 6-3, 6-4 victory
over third seeds Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett in what proved
to be the final match of Black's career (see
audio).
Paes, playing in his fifth year-end championships, is now through
to his fourth final having reached three with fellow Indian Mahesh
Bhupathi.
And Paes believes this is the time to add his first Tennis Masters
Cup crown to his list of trophies. "I mentioned to Nenad
in November 2004 that we have the game to actually win a Grand
Slam," said the Indian. "This event here is as big,
if not bigger, than a Grand Slam. Maybe this is our event to do
really well in and then win. We've played really well so far coming
into this tournament. I must tip my hat today to Nenad because
he played superb tennis today."
Looking ahead to the final, Llodra said: It's going to be an
interesting match. Always the final is always tough to win. We
are very happy to be in the final, and now we're gonna try to
win. They are good players. We'll see tomorrow what's happening
on the court."
Paes and Zimonjic will be looking to win their third title of
the year, while Llodra and Santoro will be looking for their fourth.
Zimonjic and Santoro will form a new partnership in 2006, with
Paes teaming up with Martin Damm.
Exclusive
Audio | Press
Transcripts
Friday
Doubles: Llodra-Santoro Claim Last Semifinal Spot
Thursday
Doubles: Bryans Scrape Through to Semifinals
Wednesday
Doubles: Black-Ullyett Move into Semis
Tuesday Doubles:
Paes and Zimonjic Clinch Semifinal Berth
Monday Doubles:
Huss-Moodie Dent Bjorkman-Mirnyi's Hopes
Sunday Doubles:
Arthurs-Hanley Stun Bryan Brothers
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