Knowles and Groenefeld win mixed

Knowles and Groenefeld Mark Knowles and Anne-Lena Groenefeld sprang a surprise in the mixed doubles final, beating top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black to bring the curtain down on Wimbledon 2009. Knowles from the Bahamas and Germany’s Groenefeld produced some fine tennis to come back from two breaks down in the first set to take it 7-5, before running away with the second 6-3. Groenefeld was in particularly inspired form, delivering some fine returns throughout the match. This and her obvious will to win delighted Knowles, who has waited 18 years to win a Wimbledon doubles title. “It's the one title that I haven't won in men's doubles,” said Knowles. “I've always wanted to win Wimbledon. Like everybody, it's the tournament we all look up to. “It's extremely special. Anna played fantastic for the entire fortnight. She pretty much carried me to my first title. No one else has been able to do it. But Anna did it. So it feels great.” Knowles revealed that this can be counted as a rare British success, at least in part. “My mother's British,” he explained. “I have a British passport. I came here when I was nine years old to watch the Borg/McEnroe final.” He and Groenefeld had been up against two very experienced opponents, with plenty of previous Wimbledon silverware. Paes, the 1999 mixed doubles champion with Lisa Raymond and the 2003 champion with Martina Navratilova, was dreaming of a third SW19 crown after he and Black raced into a 5-2 lead – both the Knowles and Groenefeld serves buckling under early pressure. But Knowles and Groenefeld, the ninth seeds, are made of sterner stuff, emphasised by their wins over fifth seeds Daniel Nestor and Elena Vesnina and second seeds Bob Bryan and Sam Stosur on their way to the final. They proceeded to win the next eight games of the match, breaking four times in a row. Groenefeld’s fine lob from the baseline at set point on the Black serve sailed over the head of Paes and landed inside the opposite baseline to win the set 7-5. Knowles held in the first game of the second set before Paes’ serve was broken thanks largely to some fierce returns from Groenefeld. Knowles and Groenefeld’s purple patch continued as the German held serve under pressure from Paes and Black at 2-0, 0-30. The remaining games all went with serve with Knowles closing out the match and the Championships with a serve that Black could not return. “We played very well together at the French Open so we knew we were capable of doing pretty well,” said Groenefeld after winning her first Grand Slam title. “Here we were almost out in the quarters when we lost the first set 6 0, but we kept fighting. After that we believed in ourselves and we always said ‘OK, we have the chance to win’ and we went for it.” Centre Court - Mixed Doubles - Finals Leander Paes IND (1)/ Cara Black ZIM (1) 5 3 Mark Knowles BAH (9)/ Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER (9) 7 6

Paes-Black in mixed doubles final

Top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black stormed into the final of Wimbledon mixed doubles event with a straight-set victory.

The Indo-Zimbabwe pair beat their 12th seeded opponents Stephen Huss and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-4 6-4 in a 71-minute semifinal contest.

Paes and Black, who won the US Open mixed doubles last year, were rusty at the start and were broken in the second game by the Australian-Spanish pair who go up 2-0 and then 3-0.

The top seeds, however, fought back with stunning ferocity to break their opponents in the fifth and seventh games to pocket the first game 6-4 in 35 minutes.

The second set went on serves till the fourth game after which Paes and Black tightened their game to break their opponents once and pocket the set 6-4 in 36 minutes and the match.

In the summit clash, Paes and Black will meet the winner of the other semifinal match between ninth seeds Mark Knowles (Bahamas)/Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) and unseeded Jamie Murray (Great Britain)/Liezel Huber (USA).

Williamses power into doubles final

Serena and Venus team up The Williams sisters’ domination of the ladies events continues after they destroyed top seeds Liezel Huber and Cara Black 6-1, 6-2, with an exhibition of poise and power to reach the doubles final. Venus and Serena will defend their crown just hours after facing each other in the singles final for the second year running. And Aussie pair Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs who beat Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual will not look forward to playing the Americans on this form. The Williamses did have a rather slow start to the match with Venus fortunate to hold serve in the first game of the match. But after that they never looked back with some terrific returns from Serena allowing the sisters to break the Huber serve at the first time of asking. Some fine volleying from Serena allowed her to hold serve before powerful play from both sisters led to them breaking Black in the next game. At 5-0, Huber did finally manage to hold and that prompted the No.1 Court crowd’s largest cheer of the match. But Serena closed out the first set and the Williams’ big-hitting continued in the second as they raced to a 4-0 lead. Black and Huber both managed to hold serve as the Zimbabwean/American pair, the highest ranked doubles players in the world, tried desperately to make the match a contest. But Venus held serve to see out the match in an hour and a minute and later confirmed they have taken the doubles just as seriously as the singles. “We've been so focused, and that's really been the key word this Championship,” the elder sister said. “Our focus has paid off so far.” Serena agreed: “We've been playing doubles a lot, even though we don't play every tournament. We actually have that team camaraderie. We've been getting a lot of experience, and we know what to do doubles wise.” Court 1 - Ladies' Doubles - Semifinals Cara Black ZIM (1)/ Liezel Huber USA (1) 1 2 Serena Williams USA (4)/ Venus Williams USA (4) 6 6

Top four seeds in ladies' doubles semis

Cara Black and Liezel Huber The ladies’ quarter-finals went entirely with the form-book today, with all of the top four partnerships through to the semis. After a bit of a scare, it was the number one seeds, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who eventually won through their match against 11th seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, both of Spain, in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. An early break in the first set by the Spaniards was not relinquished as the 11th seeds outplayed the top seeds, who seemed out of sorts early on, failing to make much of an impact. Not even a new set could break the pattern of play as Martinez Sanchez and Llagostera Vives raced to a 3-1 lead in the second. But this was to be the lowest point for the Zimbabwean and American pair. Black and Huber saw the chances of reclaiming their 2007 doubles crown disappearing and began to fight back, dominating the court. They came back from the brink in a style befitting their first seed status, winning the next 11 games on the trot. By the third set, they looked a completely different pair from the one that had begun the match. By now they were dancing around on court between points, with high fives and punching the air. They raced through the set without losing a game and Huber served out the match. (She returned to the same court later in the day for her mixed doubles match with Jamie Murray). Black and Huber will now face the Williams sisters in the semi-finals after the American pair beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Vania King in straight sets. Spain took the chance to redeem itself in the form of experienced number two seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. In a closely-fought tussle, they got the better of Russian pairing 19-year-old Alisa Kleybanova and 21-year-old Ekaterina Makarova, winning 6-4, 7-5. The second seeds bided their time in the first set, waiting until the ninth game to make the break of service that counted, enabling the Spaniards to close the set out on 26-year-old Medina Garrigues’s serve. The Russian pair played confidently in the second set and looked as though they might take it to a final set, as 35-year-old Ruano Pascual served to stay in the set at 4-5. But, having held to level the set, agile all-court play by the second seeds worked a break point. It was the only one they needed for a 6-5 lead. The Spaniards had to save three break points on the Medina Garrigues serve, which they did with some aplomb, before claiming the match. In the other quarter-final match, third-seeded Aussie pair Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs eventually came through against unseeded opponents Kristina Barrois and Tathiana Garbin, winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. In part, the match followed a similar pattern to that of the first seeds. The number three seeds appeared lacklustre in the first set, quickly losing the first three games and only managing to win a Stubbs serve in the entire set. The pairing of Germany’s Barrois and Italy’s Garbin looked much the stronger. Fortunes changed in the second set. The third seeds started serving in a more focused and determined manner, preventing their European opponents from getting a true foothold in the set. The Australian pair broke in the fourth game and kept up the pressure. By the time 25-year-old Stosur served out the second set to love, they were back in the ascendancy. But it was short-lived as the final set turned into a mini-thriller, full of tight tennis, short shots, long lobs and spinning serves. A medical time-out after the third game for 31-year-old Tathiana Garbin for left thigh pain only heightened the tension. The third seeds finally made the critical break in the nine game, leaving Stosur to serve out to love, much as she had done in the second set.