Martina Hingis is on her way to achieving another record to add in her enormous list of achievements as she and partner Flavia Pennetta of Italy booked a berth in the women's doubles final on Saturday against Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
Hingis together with Pennetta faced third seeds Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Sania Mirza of India in Thursday's semi-finals and won over them in a final score 6-2 6-4 victory.
Hingis has already retired twice from tennis. First during 2003 when she had a foot injury then two years after, she tested positive for cocaine during the Wimbledon and she was sanctioned with a two year ban.
According to Hingis on her return "We have to come out with our best. I mean, if they beat us, too good. If it's not gonna be enough, even better."
It seemed like Hingis has not lost her touch and her competitive drive as she helped send the Washington Kastles to their fourth straight World Team Tennis title in July.
She said "It's a great preparation. Any title is a great title to have, whether it's Team Tennis title, a grand slam or being number one. It's always another stepping stone in a career, and now we're here in the final. I'm really happy."
Hingis won five Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Opens, one Wimbledon, and one US Open). She also won nine Grand Slam women's doubles titles, winning a calendar-year doubles Grand Slam in 1998, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title.
For Hingis, joining international completion once more is a thrill. She said "It means a lot to me. I only won one title here in doubles. That was a while back in '98. I made some good matches, some great memories, but it's been a while."
Hingis tried to pair up with other players until she met Pennetta. Pennetta's former partner Gisele Dulko, had retired.
Both players have greta team play as Hingis prefers to play at the net and leave Pannetta to patrol the baseline.
She said "With Flavia I feel really comfortable being out there. I think that's the key to success. Definitely she's very powerful obviously from the baseline. As long as I'm at the net I feel comfortable. That's my time to do things."
She added "I think we just really click together at this moment even better than any other tournaments that we played together."
