So Wimbledon is over for another year. It’s always a sad moment, but what memories we’re left with. Lleyton Hewitt’s farewell, the antics of his fellow Aussie Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal’s exit at the hands of the dreadlocked Dustin Brown, Garbiñe Muguruza’s wonderful run to the women’s final, the Serena slam, Djokovic’s ninth major … the list just goes on and on. Happy memories and thanks for reading.
It’s smiles all round in the royal box as Paes and Hingis receive their trophies. Not often is Roger Federer outdone on Centre Court, but that was a textbook demonstration of rolling back the years. Hingis and Paes – combined age 76 – won 55 points to their opponents’ 20. Devastating.
Well, that was absolutely extraordinary. As brutal as it was brief. Peya and Babos laboured long and hard to make the final, winning their semi against Robert Lindstedt and Anabel Medina Garrigues 11-9 in the third, but they were up against tennis from another dimension. It’s hard to recall a more one-sided match on Centre Court. Martina Navratilova’s 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Andrea Jaeger in the 1983 women’s final, perhaps?
Paes and Hingis win the second set 6-1 to claim the title!
Paes/Hingis 6-1 Peya/Babos* (sets 1-0)
It’s all over, and what a blessed relief it must be for the vanquished pair. At 0-30, Peya dumps an easy volley into the bottom of the net and the writing is on the wall. Hingis misses a backhand return on the first match point, but Paes makes no such mistake on the next. A breathtaking backhand return, blocked quite beautifully down the line beyond the reach of Peya, seals the title. What a performance.
Paes*/Hingis 5-1 Peya/Babos (sets 1-0)
Hingis angles off a lovely backhand volley for a winner at 30-0, Paes follows up with a booming serve that goes unreturned, and that’s another quick game. Babos will serve to stay in the match.
Paes/Hingis 4-1 Peya*/Babos (sets 1-0)
As Peya and Babos finally get themselves on the second-set scoreboard, the Hungarian smiles ruefully. Her smile soon becomes a full-blown giggle. What else can you do but laugh in the face of such excellence? It’s impossible to see how the pair can make an impression on this match now; we’re deep into damage limitation territory.
Paes/Hingis* 4-0 Peya/Babos (sets 1-0)
Hingis has won two mixed titles at grand slam level, both in Australia. A third is looking inevitable. That’s another comfortable hold from the Swiss, and this set is looking like a potential whitewash.
Paes/Hingis 3-0 Peya/Babos* (sets 1-0)
This is getting disheartening for the fifth seeds. Babos is broken again, and with the match barely 30 minutes old Hingis and Paes are just three games from the title.
Paes*/Hingis 2-0 Peya/Babos (sets 1-0)
The game begins with the best point of the match so far, Peya and Babos blasting groundstrokes at their seventh-seeded opponents as though their lives depended upon it. It’s all to no avail, though, as the Hingis/Paes defence proves impenetrable. Paes remains dominant on serve.
Updated
Paes/Hingis 1-0 Peya*/Babos (sets 1-0)
Seeking to stop the rot, Peya opens the set strongly on serve. But at 40-30, crossed wires on an overhead see Babos feather a weak overhead to the waiting Paes, who needs no second invitation. He punches away the volley, and two points later Peya double-faults to concede the game. Oh dear.
Paes and Hingis win the first set 6-1
Paes/Hingis* 6-1 Peya/Babos
With 19 minutes on the clock and Paes still utterly insatiable at the net, Peya and Babos find themselves two set points down. The Austrian saves the first, unleashing a forehand winner beyond Paes off a short Hingis serve, but the favourites seal the set on the next point. Unless Peya and Babos change something quickly, this match could be over in a flash.
Paes/Hingis 5-1 Peya*/Babos
Serving at 0-40 down, Peya delivers a booming first serve to Hingis to get a foothold in the game. But it’s too little, too late as Paes and Hingis break again.
Updated
Paes*/Hingis 4-1 Peya/Babos
Another accomplished service game from Paes sees the break consolidated. Peya and Babos may take heart from the fact that they won their first point against serve in this game although, frankly, if they do they are clutching at straws. Impressive stuff from the Aussie Open champions.
Paes/Hingis 3-1 Peya/Babos*
Babos, a finalist in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon last year and also a semi-finalist in the French Open mixed, where she partnered Eric Butorac, is no mug when it comes to playing doubles. But she produces a poor game here to concede the break. Already you sense that Paes and Hingis could run away with this first set.
Updated
Paes/Hingis* 2-1 Peya/Babos
If Peya and Babos were under any illusions about the formidable task facing them here, a love game on the Hingis serve firmly dispels them. Paes looks as lethal as ever at the net, and his sprightly interceptions are already promising to be a major feature of this contest.
Paes/Hingis 1-1 Peya*/Babos
A chance for Hingis and Paes to draw first blood goes begging as Hingis – also returning from the ad court, incidentally – lashes a two-hander millimetres wide. She doesn’t look happy with that, but boy did she hit it crisply. Peya and Babos will be relieved to have come through that game.
Paes*/Hingis 1-0 Peya/Babos
A fine start for Hingis and Paes, as the Indian veteran serves out a love game. That’s no real surprise, because Paes is a man who knows his way around a doubles court, as a grand slam CV that includes eight men’s doubles titles and seven mixed championships attests. What’s perhaps more surprising is that Babos is returning from the ad court. In days gone by, playing the male half of the combo on that side was de rigueur; how times have changed.
Updated
The warm-up is complete and the roof is closed. Paes is going to open the proceedings on serve …
Good afternoon and welcome
Roger Federer may have been unable to claim an eighth men’s singles crown this afternoon, but there’s hope left yet that a blow can be struck for the thirtysomething brigade – or even the fortysomething brigade – on Centre Court today. Well, less hope than absolute certainly. Fresh, if that is the right word, from lifting the women’s doubles title in tandem with Sania Mirza on Saturday, the evergreen Martina Hingis returns to the scene of victory hoping to claim more silverware alongside the Indian doubles specialist Leander Paes. The Swiss Miss of yore is 34 now – was it really 18 summers ago that she won the ladies’ singles title at Wimbledon? – while Paes, who has won this title three times, is still going strong at 42. Throw in another veteran in the shape of Austria’s Alexander Peya, 35, and his partner Timea Babos – who is 22 – must feel like a mere stripling.
Updated
