By Dmitry Komashko
In the decisive match, with the Belarusian-Canadian duo ranked third, they defeated Poland’s Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski (ranked eighth) — 7:5, 6:3. The match lasted for one hour and 19 minutes, with the Belarusian-Canadian pair repeating their preliminary stage victory. Max Mirny and Daniel Nestor are the only pair of eight final participants to win every match in the tournament.
At the preliminary stage, Mirny and Nestor topped their group, having beaten Rohan Bopanna (India) / Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) — 7:6 (7:2), 4:6, 11:9 (ranked fifth worldwide); Poland’s Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski — 6:4, 6:3; and Michael Llodra (France) / Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) — 4:6, 6:3, 10:7 (ranked second). In the semi-finals, the pair narrowly defeated American brothers Bob and Mike Bryans — 7:6 (8:6), 6:4 — who are ranked first.
Max Mirny won the yearly ATP doubles in 2006, pairing Swede Jonas Bjorkman and, last year, reached the finals with India’s Mahesh Bhupathi, where they were beaten by his present partner, Canadian Daniel Nestor, partnering Nenad Zimonjic.
Max Mirny’s success in London has become a beautiful conclusion to the season when the Belarusian tennis player returned to the global ranking’s top. After bright partnering Jonas Bjorkman, Max’s career was in decline. However, a year ago, he joined another tennis star —Daniel Nestor; their pairing has brought brilliant results. They have won four ATP titles: in Memphis and Shanghai, at the French Roland Garros Open, and at the London Masters finals. Moreover, Mirny and Nestor have entered the finals three times at prestigious events, inspiring fans to believe that, next year, the experienced pair — who are already among the top three professional doubles — would continue their victorious tradition.