Daniel Nestor of Canada claimed his 800th career doubles victory on Thursday at the 2011 French Open.
Canada's Daniel Nestor claimed his 800th doubles match win Thursday at Roland Garros, partnering Max Mirnyi to a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Josselin Ouanna. "To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about it," said Nestor. "I was reminded back in the locker room but it’s not something I was thinking about during the match."
The 38-year-old Canadian, who turned pro 20 years ago in 1991, already has won more doubles matches than any other active player on the ATP World Tour. But the 800-wins milestone had been elusive in recent weeks. He lost in the quarter-finals of Madrid and in the first round of Rome. "It’s just nice to get a win. Max and I kind of struggled the last couple weeks and we played a tough team today in tough conditions, so it feels good to get a victory," Nestor said.
Nestor won last year's Roland Garros title with Nenad Zimonjic. He has appeared in the final three of the past four years, also winning in 2007 with Mark Knowles.
Third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, who picked up the Roland Garros title in 1999 and 2001, defeated Germans Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes on Thursday. This season's Australian Open finalists converted three of seven break point opportunities.
Fifth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi hit six aces and dropped 12 points on serve in a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 win over Italians Andreas Seppi and Simone Vagnozzi in 57 minutes.
South Americans Juan Sebastian Cabal and Eduardo Schwank dropped eight points on first serve to knock out eighth seeds and 2009 finalists Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman 7-6(4), 6-3 in 85 minutes.
Experienced team Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley beat 10th seeds Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 52 minutes. Butorac and Rojer won the Estoril and Nice titles earlier this month.
