Women’s doubles: Same again for Spanish pairing

Despite Rafael Nadal’s early exit, Spain will still feature on the honours list of the 2009 French Open. Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual overpowered Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina 6-1 6-1 in 1 hour 19 minutes to take the women’s doubles title. The Spanish duo made all their experience pay against the Russian and Belarusian, who were only playing their 19th match together. Multiple winners For Virginia Ruano Pascual this was a 10th Grand Slam title, eight of which were earned alongside her previous partner Paola Suarez. For Anabel Medina Garrigues, this was a second Grand Slam triumph. This may be the last Roland Garros title for 35 year-old Ruano Pascual however. Seconds after lifting the Simone-Mathieu cup, she announced that this could be her last French Open. “I want to dedicate this victory to my father. It’s his birthday today. This is emotional for me because I don’t plan on coming back next year. I’m going to stop here,” she said. A bright future At 19 and 22 respectively, Azarenka and Vesnina have their future ahead of them. Watching them joke and laugh on court during the last games of their match, it is clear that the two are on the same wavelength. Considering their brilliant performance at the tournament, they can look forward to claiming a major title someday. “It was great,” grinned Vesnina. “We had fun out there. Sorry if the match wasn’t spectacular but we gave it our all! Thank you Paris!” The Parisian public awaits the men’s doubles final on Saturday, which will feature Dluohy and Paes against Moodie and Norman.