Dutch Delight on French Open Final’s Day

The French Open had a very happy orange feel to it on Friday after victories for Dutch Wheelchair Tennis players Esther Vergeer and Maikel Scheffers in the Finals of the Women’s and Men’s Singles competitions.

For 29 year old Vergeer it was her fifth consecutive French Open title and extended her winning run dating back to January 2003 to 418 matches and 107 tournaments. She has now won 36 Grand Slam titles during a stunning career which has seen her remain as world number one since 1999.

In Friday’s Final she beat world number seven and compatriot Marjolein Buis 6-0, 6-2 in 48 minutes.

The Men’s Final saw another Dutch victory with world number two Maikel Scheffers defeating world number five Nicolas Peifer of France 7-6, 6-3 in 82 minutes.

Scheffers converted 67% of his break points during the match and managed to get 70% of his first serves in. His rival however had a torrid time serving up seven double faults.

The Women’s Doubles was also an all Dutch affair. Partnered with world number one Doubles player Sharon Walraven, Esther Vergeer secured her second title of the day with a 6-3, 6-3 straight sets win over number two seeds Aniek Van Koot and Jiske Griffioen in a match that took 74 minutes to complete.

There was some home success and consolation though for Frenchman Nicolas Peifer. After losing the Men’s Singles Final, Peifer picked himself up to win the Men’s Doubles title together with Japan’s Shingo Kunieda. The pair defeated Robin Ammerlaan of the Netherlands and Stefan Olsson of Sweden 6-2, 6-3