Vardan

Mary never really got going did she? I don't know Mary very well, but I know what she had to do to reach the final. What happened today is nothing new. She was so keyed up that in the end she forgot the most Important thing, which is to go out and win the game. But we shouldn't be too hard on her. There is a lesson to be learnt. And we've also learnt this week that even after 30 women players can still compete. The whole country was behind her. She had a great run.

Were you ever afraid Mary would turn it around? Sure. Nothing's ever easy. Even when you're leading 6-1, 5-1, you can still lose. Everyone knows a tennis match is never over till the last point is won.

That was a pretty quick final. Justine didn't let Mary get into the match...Yes, it was disappointing for the fans because it was over so soon, but for us it was great. Justine controlled the game and Mary let her. We're relieved, but it's a shame for the fans who must've looked forward to a closer game.

Carlos Rodriguez: ''Justine’s health is still fragile'' Saturday, June 4, 2005 Justine Henin-Hardenne's coach, Carlos Rodriguez, was radiant after seeing his protege triumph at the French Open for a second time. Nevertheless he remains circumspect about the immediate future and isn't looking to regain the world number one spot just yet.

Two lefties, one trophy Saturday, June 4, 2005 A year ago, Rafael Nadal and Mariano Puerta could only watch the men's final at Roland Garros. Sunday, the 19-year-old Spaniard and journeyman Argentine will square off for the Coupe des Mousquetaires, hoping to put an exclamation point on their compelling Parisian campaigns. The first all-left-handed French Open final since 1946 and the first at a Grand Slam since the 1998 Australian will either be the coronation of the game's newest star or vindication for a 26-year-old fighting to rebuild his career. Nadal, the fiery teenager with lighting groundstrokes and unwavering confidence, is in his first French Open, unable to play the last two because of injury. The last man to win here in his debut was Mats Wilander in 1982, four years before Nadal was born. He has stormed through the draw in Paris, highlighted so far by his four-set triumph over world number one Roger Federer Friday. Nadal has played 20 sets over six matches and won 18 of them. Puerta, meanwhile, maybe the fifth or sixth name you would give if asked to pick an Argentine to reach the final, is in the midst of resurrecting himself from a nine-month steroid suspension. From a career-high of 18th in August 2000, his ranking plummeted as low as 440 last summer thanks to a lazy mistake. To fight an asthma attack two years ago, a doctor gave Puerta clenbuterol, a Class I substance prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency code. Puerta might have escaped punishment had he informed the ATP, but he did not, so when he failed a drug test later in the year, he received a two-year ban (reduced when he proved that the drug had no performance-enhancing benefit). This year, Puerta has won in Casablanca and reached the final of Buenos Aires to pull his ranking back into the Top 40. He predicted his semi-final run here, as long as he took care of 13th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic in the opening round, and made good with consecutive wins over Guillermo Canas (9) and Nickolay Davydenko (12) after trailing two sets to one. "When I came back, I was prepared for very tough moments, prepared to be able to play anywhere. This is what I wanted," Puerta said Friday. While the two perform best on dirt, their games are not necessarily similar. Both are adept defenders, but Nadal can win points with his quickness and powerful, well-placed shots, while Puerta wants to survive them. The short but stout South American will hope to outlast the muscular Spaniard with his retrieving skills. Against Federer Friday, Nadal handled the Swiss' wide array of tactics. There will be no variety against Puerta, who is more than content to slug things out from the baseline - he went to the net just 17 times in his five-set semi-final victory over Nickolay Davydenko. "He'll be difficult, you know, because it's Roland Garros," Nadal said in Spanish. "He's been playing very good tennis to be in the final. It will be a very complicated match. I'll have to play my best tennis, and only like that will I be able to win." "With Nadal, it would be a battle, a battle because we're both left-handers. We both have the same kind of strokes," Puerta said after beating Davydenko Friday, unaware at the time whom he would play in the final. "We would both arrive at that match with huge self-confidence." Nadal, now riding a 23-match winning streak that dates back to early April and includes tournament victories at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, plans to speak with Carlos Moya before his first career Slam final. "It's always good to get the support of people who have gone through the same thing," Nadal said, a protégé of his fellow Mallorca native. "I might need some of his advice. I spoke to him before the tournament started and I know that he always supports me." Nadal and Puerta have met three previous times - a Challenger event and Umag in 2003, Acapulco this year - with the Spaniard winning the last two in straight sets. "I suppose we'll both be rather nervous in the final," Nadal admitted, "but I've played a lot of finals this year." "Most import thing is that I'm not feeling that tired," Puerta said, even though he has spent 90 more minutes on court than Nadal. "I'm very happy because I've trained very well. I'm not a favourite in the final, but I might upset."

Henin-Hardenne queen of France Saturday, June 4, 2005 In a nearly perfect performance, Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne won her second Roland Garros title by devastating France's Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 in the final on Saturday. Adeptly controlling the action from every angle on the court, Henin won her 24th straight match on clay behind a powerful serve, high variety backhand and a fearsome forehand. The 30-year-old Pierce, who has played so well to reach her third Roland Garros final - never found her stride during the match. She was sporadic on her first serve, rarely returned well and was erratic from the backcourt. The Frenchwoman was so excited to have another opportunity to win her favorite tournament that she could barely eat her breakfast. Henin was ravenous and munched through Pierce like she was swallowing a croissant with jelly. Mary fights back the tears "I have a lot of respect for Mary," said Henin. "It wasn't an easy situation for her. She had to deal with a lot of pressure. Being here in the final in France. And probably she didn't play her best tennis. But I pushed her a lot. Especially at the beginning of the match, I did put her under a lot of pressure, and then she started to make a lot of unforced errors. But I played very well, very aggressive at the beginning. I served very well during the whole match. For sure the crowd would've preferred a closer match than that, but I'm very happy the way I won." In an emotional trophy ceremony, Pierce cried for a good four minutes before apologizing to the crowd for her lackluster performance. She had fought incredibly hard to return to the top echelons of the game after battling severe injuries for much of 2001 and 2002. Reaching her third final at Roland Garros when few expected her to be more than a spoiler made her proud. She had bittersweet moments on the podium. "I had mixed emotions," Pierce said. "I was sad I lost and that the match went so fast. But I was happy to be able to stand there for the third time - it's unbelievable. I've had a lot of emotions during the past six days. I'm just so happy sometimes when I get messages from family and friends. I just get so happy to know I've come from where I've been and what I've been through. To think in my darkest moments that I'd be standing there again - that's what kept motivating me, to play big matches in big tournaments." Even though she owned a 0-3 record against Henin entering the match, Pierce believed that if she hit the high level that she displayed in knocking off top seed Lindsay Davenport and Russian Elena Likhovtseva, that she stood of fair chance of hitting through the Belgian. But Henin - who spent much of last year off the tour battling a debilitating virus -was impenetrable on the day, speeding around the court, taking big cuts on her ground stokes and turning up the heart whenever Pierce threatened her. "I confirmed my talent once again this week," said Henin, who won her fourth Grand Slam title. Henin strained during the first week, needing three sets to take down Conchita Martinez, Anabel Media Garrigues and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Back from the brink It was in her fourth round match against US Open champion Kuznetsova where Henin really turned the corner, when she looked all but dead three hours into the contest. But the Russian choked two match points against the steely-faced Belgian and from there, collapsed. The Belgian then clocked three straight power hitters to win the crown: Maria Sharapova, Elena Likhovtseva and Pierce. But it was the Kuznetsova triumph that keyed her run. "It's better than having no difficulties during the whole tournament. Everybody trembled when I had those match points against me. It was a miracle. But once I was back to the wall, I was able to become more calm. After that, there was no moment on the court where I was lost, no way the panic was going to take over" said Henin. While she pushed her small but ripped frame through two weeks of brutal play, she didn't want to take a long nap after the final. The former number one proved to herself that if she is careful about not overplaying, she can be back on top soon. "It's not a relief," she said of the title. "For sure, it's a big satisfaction. It's a great achievement. I've had a very difficult time last year and a lot of questions. Now I have a little bit of an answer. So that's very good. I didn't know if I was going to be able to be at my best level any more, and I think I proved it many times in the last few weeks that I'm back. So that's great. I was telling my coach and my husband before coming here, if I could only win one Grand Slam, it would be this one. So I did it today, and I'm really, really proud of it."

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Rafael Nadal and Mariano Puerta will grind it out in the first all lefty final at Roland Garros on Sunday. On Friday, Nadal celebrated his 19th birthday stunning Roger Federer while Puerta wore down Nikolay Davydenko

©Getty Images Paris, France: Mixed doubles champions Daniela Hantuchova and Fabrice Santoro after beating Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes in Friday's final.

June 4, 2005 Ruano Pascual, Suarez Aim For Fourth Doubles Title In Paris PARIS - The Top 2 teams at Roland Garros will do battle in the ladies' doubles final on Sunday, with the year's second Grand Slam title up for grabs on the slow red clay of the 2005 French Open. Top seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez (pictured receiving the ITF Doubles World Champions award in Paris on May 31) reached their sixth straight final at Roland Garros with a 62 64 win over No.5 seeds Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy. Ruano Pascual and Suarez have won seven Grand Slam titles together, including here at Roland Garros in 2001, 2002 and last year. Their 28 career titles as a team include two so far this year at Dubai and Indian Wells. They have both also tasted Roland Garros success in singles, with Ruano Pascual reaching the quarterfinals here in 1995, and Suarez advancing to the quarterfinals twice, going one step further last year before losing to Elena Dementieva in the semifinals. It was here last year that Ruano Pascual and Suarez reached their ninth consecutive Grand Slam doubles final, a feat second only to the legendary team of Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver, who reached 11 straight major finals between 1983 and 1985. Ruano and Suarez's streak was stopped in last year's Wimbledon semifinals. Petrova and Shaughnessy were making their first Grand Slam semifinal appearance. They had a stellar year together in 2004, winning seven titles, including Tier I events at Miami, Rome and Berlin, as well as the Season-Ending Championships. Their previous best Grand Slam finishes as a team came last year, reaching the quarterfinals here and at Wimbledon. In addition, Petrova had an excellent tournament in singles, reaching her second career semifinal here, losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne. Also advancing to the final were No.2 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who defeated No.8 seeds Corina Morariu and Patty Schnyder 64 62. Black and Huber head into the final on a 10-match win streak, coming off a title run at Rome, which was their first title together in over three-and-a-half years. Black has had Grand Slam doubles success before, winning the Wimbledon title last year with Rennae Stubbs. Huber's best Grand Slam doubles performance also came last year at Wimbledon but with Ai Sugiyama, finishing runners-up. Morariu had reached the semifinals or beyond at a Grand Slam four times previously in her career, each time with her compatriot and good friend Lindsay Davenport. In 1999, she and Davenport won the Wimbledon title, and they have also reached the final four teams at the Australian Open three times, finishing runners-up in 2001 and earlier this season. Schnyder was playing in her career-second Grand Slam doubles semifinal, after reaching the 2004 US Open semifinals with the now-retired Barbara Schett. In their only prior encounter, Ruano Pascual and Suarez defeated Black and Huber in a nail-biter in the 2003 Zurich semifinals, emerging with a 16 63 76(2) victory at the indoor event.

Henin-Hardenne Wins Roland Garros Capping a phenomenal comeback from illness and injury, Justine Henin-Hardenne (left) has beaten Mary Pierce 61 61 Saturday to win her second Roland Garros singles title. The former No.1, a winner here in 2003 but absent for much of last season, captured her fourth career Grand Slam title with a dominating display, defeating the French veteran and 2000 champion in just 61 minutes. Henin-Hardenne completed a perfect clay court season in which she won 24 consecutive matches, taking titles in Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin prior to her victory in Paris.