Llodra-Zimonjic Top Mirnyi-Nestor In Basel Final

No. 1 seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic captured their fourth team title on Sunday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, defeating second-seeded Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-5.

After failing to serve out the match leading 5-4 in the second set, Llodra and Zimonjic broke Mirnyi and Nestor for the fourth time to move ahead 6-5, and subsequently finished off the clash to claim the title victory in one hour and 17 minutes. “Michael played amazing today. I hope we can play like this next week in Paris in front of [his] home crowd,” Zimonjic said in an on-court interview.

“This was the first title for Mika and I where my brother and Mika’s physio had a chance to watch, so we’re happy that we could do it in front of [them].”

The two teams were meeting for the fifth time this season and with the win, the Frenchman-Serbian duo improved to 3-2 against Mirnyi and Nestor. The Belarusian-Canadian tandem had won their most recent meeting in the Shanghai Rolex Masters final, as well as the semi-finals of Roland Garros en route to hoisting their first major title together. Llodra and Zimonjic took encounters in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup and the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals.

This matchup had important implications for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Both teams have already secured their berths, but are battling for No. 2 in the 2011 ATP Doubles Team Rankings. Llodra and Zimonjic will take a sizeable lead heading into the BNP Paribas Masters, the final ATP World Tour event of the regular season.

Zimonjic was appearing in his third straight final in Basel, after triumphing in 2009 and finishing runner-up last year with Nestor. Llodra and Mirnyi were both contesting their first title match at the event, while Nestor was seeking his third crown, having also lifted the trophy in 2005 with Mark Knowles.