Navratilova, Bryan Win US Open Mixed Title
Posted on September 10, 2006FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY, USA -- What better way to go out than on top? Saturday night in Flushing Meadows, one of the greatest legends of women's professional tennis did exactly that, as Martina Navratilova claimed the 2006 US Open mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan, defeating Kveta Peschke and Martin Damm, 62 63, in the ultimate match of her illustrious, 32-year career.
Navratilova and Bryan, the No.5 seeds, survived several scares early on in the tournament, which Navratilova had proclaimed to be her last throughout the summer. In the first round, they edged Corina Morariu and Bob's brother, Mike, in a super tie-break victory, 67(6) 64 [10-4]; and in their second round, they won a similar battle, 61 57 [10-7], against Sun Tiantian and Julian Knowle.
From then on, the Americans cruised. Next up was a routine 63 64 quarterfinal win over Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Frantisek Cermak, then a semifinal walkover from Meghann Shaughnessy and Justin Gimelstob (with Gimelstob suffering from an injured back), and finally the quick, straight set championship victory against Peschke and Damm, which lasted just a few minutes short of an hour.
"It was great Bob wanted to play with me, because now we have an All-American title here," Navratilova said. "I wanted to win one more at Wimbledon. I think if I had won there, I probably would have stopped playing; I wanted to finish on a winning note and not push my luck. But I am very glad that it happened here. Winning at home is certainly very, very special."
During the final, Navratilova and Bryan were particularly strong on serve, the veteran dropping just one point in four service games, and her younger partner losing four in five service games.
"Mixed has played more like normal doubles for me; that's where I shine," said Navratilova. "I don't usually have Bob Bryan at the net. But I did serve well. They had a hard time returning it. I mean even Martin, probably one of the best backhand returners in the game, had a hard time returning because I put a lot of spin on it. If the woman can hold serve, then it's pretty good, especially with Bob throwing bombs there. I didn't have to be on the court when he was serving."
The Top 4-seeded duos were all bounced from the tournament early on. Top seeds Lisa Raymond and Jonas Bjorkman, No.2 seeds Rennae Stubbs and Mark Knowles and No.3 seeds Samantha Stosur and Leander Paes all fell first round; No.4 seeds Yan Zi and Todd Perry fell in the second round.
"The mixed, I think, is more difficult to win than the doubles, because there's many more teams that can win the whole thing," said Navratilova on the depth in the mixed doubles draw. "If you look at overall history of mixed doubles, there are some teams that you would never think had a chance in the beginning of the tournament, and they win the whole thing."
So, the curtain falls on one of the most impressive careers in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history, one that includes 167 singles titles, 177 doubles titles (two of those coming this year) and now 10 mixed doubles titles. The Czech-born American plans to continue promoting her book, "Shape Your Self," and the Rainbow VISA Card. She will also likely stay active in tennis, but not as a player.
"I'm leaving on my own terms, so that's what's nice. And leaving on a winning note. It's nice to win that last match so I can just put my feet up and have a beer and not worry about the fact that if I have a beer, the next morning it's gonna be harder getting up, because I don't have to worry about practice tomorrow."
After Navratilova confirmed that it was her last match, and that a third coming would not be in the cards, Bryan made one of his choice interjections of the post-match press conference.
"We have to defend our title, don't we?"
-- WTA
Navratilova and Bryan, the No.5 seeds, survived several scares early on in the tournament, which Navratilova had proclaimed to be her last throughout the summer. In the first round, they edged Corina Morariu and Bob's brother, Mike, in a super tie-break victory, 67(6) 64 [10-4]; and in their second round, they won a similar battle, 61 57 [10-7], against Sun Tiantian and Julian Knowle.
From then on, the Americans cruised. Next up was a routine 63 64 quarterfinal win over Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Frantisek Cermak, then a semifinal walkover from Meghann Shaughnessy and Justin Gimelstob (with Gimelstob suffering from an injured back), and finally the quick, straight set championship victory against Peschke and Damm, which lasted just a few minutes short of an hour.
"It was great Bob wanted to play with me, because now we have an All-American title here," Navratilova said. "I wanted to win one more at Wimbledon. I think if I had won there, I probably would have stopped playing; I wanted to finish on a winning note and not push my luck. But I am very glad that it happened here. Winning at home is certainly very, very special."
During the final, Navratilova and Bryan were particularly strong on serve, the veteran dropping just one point in four service games, and her younger partner losing four in five service games.
"Mixed has played more like normal doubles for me; that's where I shine," said Navratilova. "I don't usually have Bob Bryan at the net. But I did serve well. They had a hard time returning it. I mean even Martin, probably one of the best backhand returners in the game, had a hard time returning because I put a lot of spin on it. If the woman can hold serve, then it's pretty good, especially with Bob throwing bombs there. I didn't have to be on the court when he was serving."
The Top 4-seeded duos were all bounced from the tournament early on. Top seeds Lisa Raymond and Jonas Bjorkman, No.2 seeds Rennae Stubbs and Mark Knowles and No.3 seeds Samantha Stosur and Leander Paes all fell first round; No.4 seeds Yan Zi and Todd Perry fell in the second round.
"The mixed, I think, is more difficult to win than the doubles, because there's many more teams that can win the whole thing," said Navratilova on the depth in the mixed doubles draw. "If you look at overall history of mixed doubles, there are some teams that you would never think had a chance in the beginning of the tournament, and they win the whole thing."
So, the curtain falls on one of the most impressive careers in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history, one that includes 167 singles titles, 177 doubles titles (two of those coming this year) and now 10 mixed doubles titles. The Czech-born American plans to continue promoting her book, "Shape Your Self," and the Rainbow VISA Card. She will also likely stay active in tennis, but not as a player.
"I'm leaving on my own terms, so that's what's nice. And leaving on a winning note. It's nice to win that last match so I can just put my feet up and have a beer and not worry about the fact that if I have a beer, the next morning it's gonna be harder getting up, because I don't have to worry about practice tomorrow."
After Navratilova confirmed that it was her last match, and that a third coming would not be in the cards, Bryan made one of his choice interjections of the post-match press conference.
"We have to defend our title, don't we?"
-- WTA