Dlouhy and Paes take their first Roland Garros title

No3 seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes captured their first ever men’s doubles Grand Slam title together with a 3-6 6-3 6-2 win over the unseeded pairing of Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman. The Czech/Indian team had to overcome adversity when Paes was hit square in the eye by a Norman volley at the net early in the encounter. He and Dlouhy were already a break down, and by the time that the Indian had regained his composure (and put ice on his injury), Moodie and Norman – who defeated Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram as well as the No2 seeded Bryan brothers on the way to the final – were already a set to the good. Dlouhy and Paes are made of sterner stuff however, and had overcome no less a pairing than No1 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimomjic in the semis to prove their pedigree. They took the second set 6-3 and then raced away with the decider, breaking twice and then serving out to love, Paes banging down an ace to seal the deal before rushing into the crowd to embrace Martina Navratilova, with whom he won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2003.