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Fernandez, Zvereva Win Wimbledon Doubles

Associated Press
Sunday, July 6, 1997; 10:54 a.m. EDT

WIMBLEDON, England — American Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva of Belarus won their fourth Wimbledon women's doubles title Sunday and their 14th Grand Slam as a team.

The top seeds defeated sixth-seeded American Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 for their second Grand Slam title this year after a win last month in the French Open.

The pair won three straight Wimbledon doubles titles from 1992-94. Zvereva also won in 1991 when she teamed with Larisa Neiland.

"We split up [after last year's U.S. Open] and never thought we'd play together again,'' Fernandez said. "To come back — you can't have high expectations together because when we split up we weren't winning as much.

"I just think we needed a break from each other. We went through five years with a lot of stress and a lot of pressure.''

The two teamed again to win the French Open in what Zvereva jokingly called a "mistake.''

"Mostly it was an accident when both of our previous partnerships didn't work out,'' Zvereva said.