By Nick Georgandis

(June 24, 2010)  Two of the most popular female tennis players from a decade ago will reunite for the Ladies Invitational Doubles event during the second week of Wimbledon.

Former Australian Open doubles champions Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova have announced they will return to Wimbledon this summer to compete.

Still just 29 years old, Hingis will return to the All England Club for the first time since 2007, when she failed a drug test, testing positive for cocaine. She has vehemently denied the charges since the incident.
 

Hingis plays professionally in the United States for the New York Buzz. She played on the tour from 1995-2007, winning 43 singles titles – including five Grand Slams.  She finished both the 1999 and 2000 seasons ranked No. 1 in the world, and added 37 doubles titles, including four straight (1999-2002) at the Australian Open pairing with Kournikova.

Kournikova, vastly more famous for her looks than her success on the court, is now 28 and also playing competitively in the United States as a part-time member of the St. Louis Aces.
 

She never won a singles title on tour, but was victorious in doubles 16 times, achieving the No. 1 ranking in the world along with Hingis in 1999.

She retired from the tour in 2003 because of problems with a chronic back injury.

The irony is not lost that as retired veterans, Kournikova and Hingis are the exact same ages as Serena and Venus Williams, currently the top two ranked players in the world.