Paris: Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canadian Daniel Nestor beat surprise South American pairing Eduardo Schwank and Colombian Juan Sebastian Cabal 7-6 3-6 6-4 to win the French Open doubles title on Saturday.
The second seeds, who had each won two Roland Garros and two U.S. Open doubles titles with other partners, broke serve just once in the match in the last game.
"I would like to thank Max, he is an unbelievable partner," the 38-year-old Nestor, an Olympic gold medallist in 2000, said at courtside.
Nestor and Mirnyi clinched the opening set tiebreak 7-3 before conceding serve once in the second set as Cabal and Argentina's Schwank, who beat the world number one Bryan brothers on route to the final, levelled.
The third set went to serve, until a double fault in the last game from Colombia's inexperienced Cabal earned Mirnyi and Nestor the victory.
"Today was a dog fight. I thought those guys were playing tough," Nestor, who now has seven grand slam doubles titles to Mirnyi's five, told reporters. "We beat a hot team today."
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, June 05, 2011, 22:24