WTT Washington Kastles

Martina Hingis Reaches US Open Doubles Semifinals

September 3, 2014 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


Martina Hingis of the Kastles is back in a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in nearly nine years, teaming with Flavia Pennetta to defeat Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-3 in Tuesday's quarterfinals.

Hingis last reached the final four of a major tournament at the 2006 Australian Open, winning the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi.

As she's shown with Washington the last two seasons, Hingis still has the talent to win titles. She's proving as much with every match at the US Open, where she and Pennetta have yet to lose a set.

After winning their first-round match via retirement, Hingis and Pennetta avenged a loss at Cincinnati by routing No. 15 seeds Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-0. They followed that by sweeping 28 straight points during a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Kastles substitute Jarmila Gajdosova and Ajla Tomljanovic.

Yet, they didn't get off to a great start against the 2011 Wimbledon champions and No. 5 seeds Peschke and Srebotnik.

Like their opponents, Peschke and Srebotnik are both former World No. 1s in doubles. They jumped out to a 2-0, 40-15 lead, but when Hingis and Pennetta won a rapid rally at the net, momentum shifted.

Peschke, Hingis and Srebotnik were broken in succession before Pennetta held for 3-3 thanks to three volley winners from her partner.

With the score tied at 4-4 two games later, Hingis curled a forehand at Srebotnik's shoe-tops, forcing the Slovenian into popping up a half-volley that Pennetta put away for a break. Pennetta, who is also in the singles quarterfinals, went on to serve the set out at love behind two forehand winners.

Hingis and Pennetta continued rolling in the second set, breaking the San Diego Aviators' Peschke in both of her service games. They also brought the Grandstand fans to their feet by winning a spectacular 21-shot rally at a crucial moment.

Hingis and Srebotnik exchanged 12 consecutive crosscourt forehands before the Swiss took a shot up the line, engaging all four players in a scramble until Pennetta landed a lob winner on the baseline.

Winning that point helped Hingis hold her serve for 3-1, but when she served again at 5-2, the Swiss could not convert two match points.

After breaking Hingis, Srebotnik saved a third match point at 3-5 with a service winner. When the teams arrived at deuce, however, Hingis and Pennetta clinched their place in the semifinals with back-to-back backhand volley winners.

Hingis and Pennetta also defeated Peschke and Srebotnik 6-4, 4-6, [10-8] to reach the Eastbourne final in June.

The Kastle is seeking her 10th Grand Slam women's doubles title with a seventh different partner. For her and Pennetta to reach Saturday's final, they will need to defeat No. 3 seeds Cara Black and Sania Mirza. Visit the Kastle Tracker later today to find out when, where and how you can watch Hingis in the US Open semifinals.

Williams Sisters Fall to Makarova & Vesnina at US Open

No. 4 Seeds Oust Two-Time US Open Champions in Quarterfinals

Kastles superstar Venus Williams and original player Serena Williams were undone by untimely double faults in Tuesday's US Open quarterfinals, falling 7-6(5), 6-4 to No. 4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

Venus double-faulted twice in the first-set tiebreaker, then Serena double-faulted on the final two points of the match, ending the living legends' bid for a third US Open title.

Venus and Serena entered with a 13-0 record in Grand Slam finals, including US Open triumphs in 1999 and 2009. But in order to return to the championship match, the unseeded sisters needed to overcome a difficult draw.

They took out two seeded teams en route to the quarters, battling past Wimbledon finalists Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 7-6(0), 6-7(4), 6-1 before blitzing Stanford champions Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-0.

The Australian Open finalists Makarova and Vesnina proved to be Venus and Serena's toughest competition of the tournament. Like Serena, Makarova is in the singles quarterfinals, and like Venus, Vesnina reached the singles third round.

After dropping the opening game, the Russians rebounded by reeling off the next four to open up a 4-1, two-break advantage. Venus and Serena refused to lose easily, putting the pressure back on their opponents by winning eight straight points and cutting their lead to 4-3.

At 30-30 in the next game, Vesnina aimed for Venus when she unloaded on a forehand. But Venus stood her ground at the net with a textbook backhand volley, which she followed by poaching for a forehand volley winner. Buoyed by that great play, the Americans evened the first set at 4-4 when Venus dipped a return that set Serena up for a put-away.

All four players held serve from 4-4 to force a tiebreaker, though the Williams sisters held a set point when Vesnina served at 5-6.

Having missed one opportunity to clinch the set, Venus and Serena were unable to earn another. Venus double-faulted twice in the tiebreak, which the Russians won 7-5 when Vesnina crushed a crosscourt backhand past Serena.

Despite a disappointing end to the first set, the Williams sisters broke Vesnina immediately in the second set. Yet, the Russians bounced back by breaking Serena when the top-ranked singles player missed a backhand long.

The second set stayed on serve until Makarova and Vesnina led 5-4. Down 0-30, Serena hit consecutive service winners to bring her team back to 30-30.

But after making two straight strong serves, Serena stunningly missed four in a row. Her two double faults abruptly advanced Makarova and Vesnina to the semifinals, silencing a capacity crowd inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

While the Russians seek a second Grand Slam title to go with the 2013 French Open, Venus and Serena fell to 13-7 in seven tournaments since their gold-medal performance at the 2012 Olympic Games. They also lost to Makarova and Vesnina 6-4, 4-6, [10-4] at Dubai in February.



World TeamTennis Stories from September 3, 2014


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