Leander Paes celebrated his ninth Grand Slam doubles! Seems like this guy never slow down! Paes teamed with Lukas Dlouhy to capture the French Open title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman.
It was 35-year-old Paes's fifth men's doubles Grand Slam. He has also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, including the 2003 Wimbledon and Australian Open trophies with Martina Navratilova.
Navratilova was spotted at the stand sitting next to Bill Gates. "Martina has been a soulmate for many years. We've been through a lot in life, especially me in the last eight years. She's been along with me, supporting me, guiding me at times," said Paes.Paes and Dlouhy first teamed up at Roland Garros last year, losing in the last 16 to eventual champions Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna.
"When I was diagnosed with cancer and I couldn't play, she basically stayed away from the game and didn't play mixed doubles until I came back."
"Whenever I look at a person like Navratilova, she gives me a lot of inspiration. It was strange that just at the end of the second set when we were getting a bit nervous and a bit edgy, she came out there and was just making eye contact."
"Lukas served three doubles faults early in the third set. I told him at one point, Martina is out there. Come on. Have a look at her. She's inspiring us."
They then finished runners-up to Mike and Bob Bryan in the 2008 US Open final.
"We started playing together at Roland Garros last year. We lost then to the champions so we made it a point that we would come back and try and win it this year," added Paes.Judging from the way they celebrated their win by hugging and hoisting each other into the air, they'll probably stick around for more Grand Slam moments like this.
In the women's doubles, Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual won their second consecutive French Open women's doubles title by beating Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1 on Friday.
(Via AP; Images by Patrick Kovarik/Matthew Stockman/AFP/Getty Images)
