Hingis in first Wimbledon finals since 1998
Martina Hingis reached her first Wimbledon finals for 17 years Friday
when she and Sania Mirza qualified for the women's doubles championship
match before she teamed with Leander Paes to make the mixed doubles
final.
Hingis and Mirza, the top seeds, defeated Racquel Kops-Jones and
Abigail Spears of the United States 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Hingis, 34, was Wimbledon singles champion in 1997 and took the
doubles with Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna two years later.
Russia's Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova will be the opponents
for Hingis and Mirza after the second seeds beat Timea Babos and
Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Hingis and Mirza, who have three WTA doubles titles together at
Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, are through to their first Grand
Slam doubles final together.
The Swiss star has has a 9-3 record in Grand Slam doubles finals --
she has four Australian Opens, two French Opens, two Wimbledons and a US
Open to her name.
Meanwhile, Mirza is going for her first Grand Slam doubles title.
Makarova and Vesnina are two-time Grand Slam champions, winning the
2013 French Open and 2014 US Open.
Hingis and Mirza have beaten Makarova and Vesnina in both of the
pairs' previous meetings, both this year and both in finals -- 6-3, 6-4
in the Indian Wells final and then 7-5, 6-1 in the Miami final.
"They're a really good team. They've been playing really well this
year," Makarova said.
"We've played two finals against them already, at Indian Wells and
Miami, and they beat us in both of them, but we're hoping tomorrow will
be third time lucky. Hopefully we can win the title here."
Later Friday, Hingis and Paes, seeded seven, defeated top seeded
American pair Mike Bryan and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-4 in the mixed
doubles semi-finals.
In Sunday's final they will take on Alexander Peya and Babos who put
out Robert Lindstedt and Anabel Medina Garrigues 4-6 6-3, 11-9.
(AFP)
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