Malisse-Rochus make history with Belgian triumph By Araz Gulekjian Saturday, June 5, 2004 Belgian’s Xavier Malisse and Olivier Rochus made history at Roland Garros on Saturday, becoming the first Belgian team ever to capture a men’s Grand Slam doubles title. The unseeded Belgian team defeated French crowd favorites Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llodra 7-5 7-5 in front of an excited crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier. The last Belgian team to reach a Grand Slam semi final were Jacky Brichant and Philippe Washer at Wimbledon in 1953. “There’re no words to describe this. It’s really a joy to win,” Malisse said. “We've known each other for the past 10 years. We played all the junior tournaments together. He is a great friend. Winning with him makes it more special. I’m very emotional. I’ve always dreamed to take the mic here one day,” added a teary Rochus. Today’s win was all the more outstanding because it was only the second time Malisse and Rochus had played together, having decided to team up here just for fun. And fun they had. Malisse and Rochus eliminated five seeded teams en route to their victory, including No2 seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge. In a sign of things to come, Llodra dropped his opening serve as the Belgian pair came out firing to go up 4-2. The two-time Australian Open champions (2003 and 2004) resurfaced and reeled off three straight games to take the lead but squandered three set points at 5-4 on Malisse’s serve. Llodra slumped further, performing well below his best, as the French pair lost their serve in the eleventh game and conceded the set in the twelfth. The Frenchmen, seeded sixth, who were bidding to become the first French team to clinch the Roland Garros title after Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte in 1984, resurged momentarily to go up 3-0 and then 4-2. But each time, they were unable to hold onto their lead. Rochus played flawlessly at the end and wrapped up the Belgian’s first Slam victory on his serve. “It’s now become a custom in Paris. Each year, the Belgians leave Paris with a trophy,” teased Santoro. --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.112.234.152