Gator Great Lisa Raymond Wins U.S. Open Women's Doubles Championship
Sunday, September 11, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Gator great Lisa Raymond won the 2011 U.S. Open Women's Doubles Championship on Sunday, when she and her partner Liezel Huber (USA) won a three-set thriller Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, N.Y.
Raymond and Huber, the event's No. 4 seed, knocked off third-seeded and defending champion Vania King (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the final.
Raymond and Huber trailed 6-4, 5-3 before rallying behind Raymond's reliable volleys and Huber's well-placed lobs.
More than 18 years after her final collegiate match at the University of Florida, Raymond (38) surpassed Billie Jean King as the oldest player to ever win a Grand Slam women's doubles title. King was 36 when she and Martina Navratilova won the 1980 US Open.
"To even be in the same breath as Billie Jean King is amazing," Raymond told ESPN2's Darren Cahill following the final. "It's been a crazy, up-and-down year. The last few months playing with Liezel have been amazing. To finish the summer like this, and come back the way we did, I don't even know what to say."
The victory is Raymond's 10th professional Grand Slam title, as well as her third U.S. Open crown, joining women's doubles victories in 2001 and 2005 in addition to U.S. Open Mixed Doubles championships in 1996 and 2002.
Raymond, the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Singles Champion who was inducted into the UF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003, has collected nine professional grand slam championships since wrapping up one of the most successful collegiate career in history, winning the women's doubles title at the 2006 French Open, the 2001 & 2005 U.S. Opens, the 2001 Wimbledon Championships and the 2000 Australian Open. Raymond's mix doubles titles came at the 2003 French Open, the 1996 and 2002 U.S. Open and the 1999 Wimbledon Championships.
· Official U.S. Open Photo Gallery, Women's Doubles Final
· Official match recap from USOpen.org - Raymond-Huber oust defending champs in women's doubles final
· Official postmatch press conference via usopen.org
(Information from ITAtennis.com also used in this report)
