Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Lüthi has called Martina Hingis to tell her that it will take until the end of the year for Roger Federer to decide if he’s playing mixed at the Rio Olympics next year. The 2012 London Olympics marked the return of mixed doubles to the Games after a 92-year hiatus. Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the gold medal after defeating Andy Murray and Laura Robson of Great Britain in the final. Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond were the bronze medalists, defeating Sabine Lisicki and Christopher Kas in the bronze medal match.
The Last Time The Swiss Were Represented In Men’s And Women’s Doubles
The Swiss were shutout of mixed doubles at the Olympics back in 2012. They were also shutout of the women’s doubles too. The last time Switzerland had representation in women’s doubles at the Olympics was in Beijing 2008. Emmanuelle Gagliardi and Patty Schnyder represented the Swiss, and the duo won their opening round match before losing to the eighth-seeded Chinese team of Yan Zi and Jie Zheng. This also happened to be the year that Stan Wawrinka and Federer won the gold medal in men’s doubles.
Federer With A Couple Of Other Options
Hingis is not the only option that Federer could potentially play with in mixed. Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky are the other two Swiss players he could play with. Bencic enjoyed a breakout season this year, which included her biggest title to date at the Rogers Cup where she upset Serena Williams in the semifinals then won via retirement against Simona Halep in the final. Bacsinszky also enjoyed a rejuvenating season where she reached the French Open semifinals, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, and her first Premier Mandatory final at the China Open.
Lüthi’s Quotes
The Swiss Davis Cup captain visited the Swiss sports newspaper “Morning” and said this about Federer and Hingis, "We know that Martina Hingis is awaiting a reply from Roger Federer to possibly team up in mixed doubles in Rio.” “This is normal, she would plan her next season. But I called Martina to say that Roger gave himself up to the end of the year to decide. Because playing three tables (note: men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles) in ten days, it's still a lot.”
“In absolute terms, also taking into account the progress of Timea Bacsinszky and Belinda Bencic on the female side, can we imagine that Swiss tennis round up all the gold medals in Rio brought into play? Severin Lüthi responds with a smile: "Ideally, if everybody is in top form, indeed, one can dream."