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Associated Press 17y

Nadal gets behind Barcelona before facing Federer in French Open final

PARIS -- Ana Ivanovic's shaky nerves left her frustrated and
angry and unable to keep up with Justine Henin in the French Open
final.

"I guess I can use this as experience," said the 19-year-old
Ivanovic, a first-time Grand Slam finalist. "And next time I'll be
in that situation, I will probably know how to deal with it
better."

Ivanovic lost 6-1, 6-2 Saturday. She started well but was hit by
the yips serving at 1-0, 40-love.

Her ball toss became erratic, and she hit a serve 10 feet long,
prompting groans from the crowd. She double-faulted to fall behind
3-1, and a flurry of errors followed, with many shots sailing
several feet long as she lost eight games in a row.

"I all of a sudden started feeling nervous, and my ball toss
was going everywhere," Ivanovic said. "I couldn't really control
it. So I start to think more about that instead of my game. ... I
was a little bit angry with myself, because I knew I could perform
better. It was frustrating for me to see that happening, because I
was expecting a good match, and tough match, and I was really
hoping it could be much closer."

The match lasted only 65 minutes. Ivanovic committed 26 unforced
errors, twice Henin's total, and double-faulted five times.

Ivanovic had the consolation of becoming the first player to
represent Serbia in a major final. She defeated No. 3 Svetlana
Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the
semifinals.

"I had an amazing two weeks here, and I played some really good
tennis," Ivanovic said. "I beat a few top players, so that gave
me a lot of confidence."

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^DOUBLE TROUBLE:@ Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor finally won the
French Open men's doubles title, and now they need a win at
Wimbledon to complete a career Grand Slam.

The No. 6-seeded Knowles and Nestor beat No. 9 Lukas Dlouhy and
Pavel Vizner 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Saturday.

Runners-up at Roland Garros in 2002, Knowles and Nestor added a
third major to their titles from the 2002 Australian Open and 2004
U.S. Open.

"Our whole career we've strived to win the French Open,
Wimbledon -- all the Grand Slams," Nestor said. "We've got three
out of four, and there's no reason why we can't get four out of
four at Wimbledon. We're playing great."

Knowles collapsed to the court on his back following match point
and rose covered in clay to hug Nestor.

The 35-year-old Knowles, from the Bahamas, has won 45 doubles
titles in his career. The 34-year-old Nestor, who is Canadian, has
47.

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^A U.S. WIN:@ The United States averted a shutout at the French
Open thanks to a familiar name: John McEnroe.

He and Anders Jarryd of Sweden won the over-45 doubles title
Saturday by beating Peter McNamara of Australia and Victor Pecci of
Paraguay, 6-1, 6-3.

The other remaining U.S. players competing at Roland Garros --
both in junior doubles -- lost in finals.

No. 2-seeded Kellen Damico of the United States and Jonathan
Eysseric of France were beaten on the boys' side by unseeded Thomas
Fabbiano of Italy and Andrei Karatchenia of Belarus, 6-4, 6-0.

Unseeded Alexa Glatch of the United States and Sorana Cirstea of
Romania lost in the girls' final to No. 3 Ksenia Milevskaya of
Belarus and Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-4.

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^LONDON BEATS PARIS:@ Still seeking his first French Open title,
Roger Federer prefers the atmosphere at Wimbledon to Roland Garros.

"Here, sometimes, the problem is that the VIPs only come for
one or two matches a day," Federer said Saturday. "Center court
in Wimbledon is always full."

The Philippe Chatrier center court at Roland Garros was only
half full when Federer's semifinal match began Friday.

"That's the problem, because the VIPs take all the seats around
the court." Federer said. "I'm not saying here is not good, but
you have to hope the VIPs come as well, or the sponsors."

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^JUSTINE ON TOP:@ French Open champion Justine Henin will remain
No. 1 in next week's WTA Tour rankings, a position she has held for
68 weeks over four different stints.

On Saturday, Henin won her third consecutive French Open title,
her fourth overall and her sixth Grand Slam title by beating Ana
Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2.

Maria Sharapova, who lost to Ivanovic in the semifinals, will
remain No. 2 next week. Jelena Jankovic, beaten by Henin in the
semifinals, will climb to No. 3 -- the highest ranking ever for a
Serb.

Ivanovic climbs one spot to No. 6.

"I have ambitions to win Grand Slams and reach No. 1," the
19-year-old Serb said.

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Associated Press Writer Jenny Barchfield in Paris contributed to
this report.

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