SA THROUGH TO DOUBLES FINALS

FOR the second successive grand slam SA are assured of a player in the finals of the mixed doubles. David Adams and Mariaan de Swardt won the Australian Open mixed doubles title in January and today Grant Stafford and Nannie de Villiers will play Pietie Norval and Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik for a place in the French Open final. In Tuesday’s quarterfinals Stafford and De Villiers defeated Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic and Australian Kristine Kunce 7-5 6-3 while Norval and Srebotnik ousted third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Ai Sugiyama of Japan 2-6 6-3 7-5. Neither pair is seeded. Seventh seeds Adams and De Swardt though, failed to close in on a grand slam double when they fell to fourth seeds Mark Woodforde of Australia and Russian Elena Likhovtseva 7-5 6-2.