 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2008 |
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| 07 Jun 2008 - Roland Garros, Paris - Eleanor Preston |  Related Audio |
| Hercoq and Moore see the funny side in Paris |
 An interview with doubles champions Henri Kontinen and Christopher Rungkat (MP3 format)
An interview with champions Jessica Moore and Polona Hercoq (MP3 format)
 
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Polona Hercoq of Slovenia and Australia’s Jessica Moore were laughing all the way to the Junior Roland Garros doubles title on Saturday, thanks to a 5-7, 6-1, 10-7 victory over the Dutch duo of Lesley Kerkhove and Arantxa Rus. The match ended in comic style after Hercoq hit Moore on the ear with a serve on match-point in the match tiebreaker. The two girls were still giggling when they clinched the title on the very next point.
“I was so nervous, I just had to hit the ball. I don’t know how I hit her – she doesn’t have that big a head and I had the whole court,” said Hercoq, still giggling at the memory. “It probably broke the tension because we had a bit of a laugh,” said Moore, her ear still bright red from the errant serve. “It might have upset our opponents, I don’t know, but luckily we stuck to it and I didn’t cry too much and we won the next point!”
“I want to thank Jess. She’s a great girl and a great partner. It feels great to win here in Roland Garros because it’s my favourite tournament of all the grand slams. Since I was very little, I always loved this tournament,” said Hercoq. “It was pretty hard out there, especially in the first set, but we got it together and we had a lot of fun and we got a win, which was great,” said Moore.
Henri Kontinen of Finland and Indonesia’s Christopher Rungkat won the boys’ doubles title with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Germany’s Jaan-Frederik Brunken and Matt Reid of Australia.
“First of all of course we feel happy to win a junior grand slam. We played good since the first round until today. We didn’t lose a set. We played with high performances this week. I think Henri and I feel the same – we feel happy,” said Rungkat. “I guess team work is the main thing in doubles always. You have to have good communication with your partner and get on with him and that’s how it all starts,” said Continen, when asked the secret to winning junior grand slam doubles titles. “Then you can use your game styles to complement each others’ games. Doubles gives you confidence winning in doubles and you get to practice volleys too, which can help you in singles.”
Continen is a member of the ITF Grand Slam Touring Team and says that the support he gets from the players and coaches around him has been invaluable. “They’ve been helping the whole team and the coaches have been helping us a lot over the last four weeks, starting in Italy. They’ve helped improve our game and we’ve got a good bond between us which helps when you are travelling,” he said. Kontinen also believes that the ITF Team provides useful preparation for the life of a travelling professional player. “Definitely,” he said. “It’s a new experience travelling with them. It’s always different travelling with different players and coaches and I think this is a very good experience for me and the other players and I hope to get the most out of it.”
Kontinen and Rungkat are committed to playing together during the grass court season and will team up again at Roehampton and Junior Wimbledon.
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