French-Swiss newspaper Le Matin reports that Roger Federer and Martina Hingis will play mixed doubles for Switzerland at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro just a few days after Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Lüthi said that the world number three would wait until the end of the year to decide. So it looks like the duo has their heart set on potential Olympic gold together.
Swiss Tennis So Nice, Let’s Have Mixed Doubles Twice?
According to Le Matin, Federer and Hingis are not the only duo set to play mixed together. Stan Wawrinka and Timea Bacsinszky could also form a mixed doubles team. The 2012 London Olympics saw the return of mixed doubles which the Swiss were shutout of so having double the representation in Rio de Janeiro would be phenomenal for the country.
Men’s And Women’s Doubles Potential Favorites For Gold
Hingis has soared into new heights into the doubles game this year, partnering with Sania Mirza. The team of SanTina has dominated the WTA and saw themselves win three of the five biggest titles of the year at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the WTA Finals. Hingis is set to team up with teen sensation Belinda Bencic for women’s doubles.
Men’s doubles on the other hand is not set yet, but very likely the pairing will be Federer and Wawrinka. The Swiss won doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.
When To Commit
All players who plan on playing in the Olympics have a decision to decide if they will play in the Olympics by June when the nominations for teams will be announced. However, mixed pairings can be named later. Mixed pairings can be named by August 8th, three days after the Olympics games starts.
Severin Lüthi's Quote
Lüthi hopes that Swiss tennis can roundup all the gold medals in Rio when he said, "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? Ideally, if everybody is in top form, indeed, one can dream."