 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 10 Jun 2006 |
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| 10 Jun 2006 - Roland Garros, Paris - Eleanor Preston | |
| Massa makes history with Nishikori |
Emiliano Massa earned himself a place in Roland Garros history by becoming the first Argentine to win the junior doubles title twice. Last year Massa, who says his ambition is to win the Roland Garros men’s title, joined forces with fellow Argentine Leonardo Mayer to take the 2005 junior doubles trophy. This time around, he teamed up with Japan’s Kei Nishikori to beat Russians Artur Chernov and Valery Rudnev 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova joined up with Canada’s Sharon Fichman on a noisy Court 2 to win the girls doubles title with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. It marked the second junior doubles grand slam of the year for the duo, who won the Australian Open title January.
Massa said he was thrilled to get himself into the record books in Paris. “Last year it meant a lot because I was playing with another Argentinean, but to win two is amazing,” he said, through translation. “It means a lot to make history.”
Nishikori revealed afterwards that he and Massa do not speak on court – Massa speaks barely any English and Nishikori cannot understand Spanish – which means they communicate purely through hand signals. “It seems to work okay between us,” said Nishikori, with a laugh. “I’m so happy because it’s the first time I’ve won a grand slam title. I think this will be good news in Japan.”
Nishikori had to wait until after the match to speak to his family – he is superstitious and refuses to speak to anyone back home while he is still in the tournament. With the doubles title safely in hand, he was ready to spread the news about his victory with Massa.
The girls’ final was given an extra frisson of excitement by the fact that two of the players involved will do battle in Sunday’s singles final. Pavlyuchenkova said the win over Radwanska would be a big confidence boost, even though it was in doubles. “Anytime you win a title, whether it is the Italian Open or a grand slam, it feels good,” said Pavlyuchenkova, who is the reigning Australian Open singles champion as well as two-time junior grand slam doubles winner.
After the match she paid tribute to Fichman, whom, she said, had been a tower of strength during a gruelling final. “It was so hot out there and after the first set I didn’t feel well, because I thought we could have won it and I was a bit down. Fisher (her nickname for Fichman) was great, she kept telling me ‘come on, we can take it’. She really supported me. After that we both believed we could win.”
“There have been times where she helps me too,” said Fichman, who first played with Pavlyuchenkova at Nottinghill in January. “The French Open is incredibly important to me – it’s been my dream to win here since I was five years old. They are so passionate and enthusiastic about their tennis here. The crowd was really into it today, they really made it interesting.”
Nishikori rounded off his day with a practice session with mens’ finalist Rafael Nadal.
“It was really exciting, there were so many people watching. He hits the ball so heavy.”
For previous days reports from Roland Garros 2006, please click here.
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