THE CANADIAN PRESS
PARIS -- Canada's Daniel Nestor and new partner Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia lost in their bid to capture their first Grand Slam title together at the French Open on Saturday.
The unseeded team of Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru defeated Nestor and Zimonjic 6-2, 6-3 in a rainy final, denying Nestor a chance at a second consecutive title at Roland Garros.
Cuevas and Horna struck early, and after two breaks in the opening set left little doubt which direction the final was heading.
"We expected them to swing away," Nestor said. "But we didn't expect 90 per cent of their shots to go in."
The South Americans, playing together at a major event for the first time, dominated in rainy conditions, breaking Zimonjic to start and end a final which lasted less than an hour.
The 35-year-old Nestor, from Toronto, had been hoping to cement his new relationship with his Serb partner as the pair played in only their third Grand Slam event together.
"Second is not so bad," Nestor said after the loss. "Nenad played well, we just weren't able to get past these guys.
"They played really well. But I'm not negative about our future. We're only going to get better. We're expecting better things at Wimbledon and the US Open."
Cuevas and Horna took full advantage of their underdog status to spring a surprise on the wet Chartier showcase court.
"The only thing you can do in that situation is tip your hat to them -- they were better," Nestor said.
Nestor captured the doubles title at Roland Garros a year ago alongside longtime partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas. But the two parted ways in November after a 13-year partnership when Nestor said he felt they no longer jelled.
Nestor and Zimonjic came to Paris with an appearance in the Rome final under their belt and a Hamburg title on clay and had rolled through their matches at Roland Garros leading into the championship match.
Nestor said the constant drizzle didn't make things easier Saturday.
"We could have done everything better," said. "They jumped all over us, we felt behind the entire match. We couldn't relax and go for shots, since every point was so important."
The second-seeded Nestor and Zimonjic got off to a slow start, with both players dropping serve to fall to a 0-3 deficit.
The South Americans earned a 4-0 margin before Zimonjic settled to hold for 1-4.
Nestor did the same in the seventh game, but the turnaround was not enough to prevent the underdogs from serving out the opening set on the first of two chances in 31 minutes.
The rout continued as the rain picked up, with Nestor losing serve in the third game. Horna moved his side into winning position with a love game for 5-3. A final break of Zimonjic sealed the unexpected victory.
"We tried our hardest," Nestor said. "We just have to try and do better next time."
Nestor was competing in his 10th Grand Slam doubles final, while Zimonjic had played for Wimbledon titles twice.
The Canadian, with 51 doubles trophies, was competing in Paris for a 13th straight year.
Cuevas and Horna became the first doubles pair to reach a final on their Grand Slam debut since Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie won at Wimbledon in 2005.
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