10 August,2016 12:13 PM IST | | PTI
In an unexpected development, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis have decided to end their astonishing partnership that took the tennis world by storm last year, Sania now teams up with Barbora Strycova
Martina Hingis (left) and Sania Mirza during the 2016 Australian Open final at Melbourne Park, Australia recently. Pic/Getty Images
New Delhi: In an unexpected development, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis have decided to end their astonishing partnership that took the tennis world by storm last year when they won nine titles including the year-end WTA championship.
Martina Hingis (left) and Sania Mirza during the 2016 Australian Open final at Melbourne Park, Australia recently. Pic/Getty Images
Sania and the Swiss great began their partnership last year in March with a bang, winning three titles on the trot - at Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston. Sania became World No 1 in partnership with Martina when they won the Charleston event. Sania also enjoyed her first ever women's doubles Grand Slam title by winning the Wimbledon in company of Martina.
Later, the pair also won the 2015 US Open."Yes, the partnership is over. They have not got the desired results in last five months. You see, they have lost to players outside top 100 and it reflects that something is wrong. But is a regular phenomena, you can change partner if results are not coming," a source close to Sania said.
New partnerships for both
Sania will now play with World No 21 Barbora Strycova from the Czech Republic, while Martina has teamed up with Coco Vandeweghe of the United States of America.
Sania's partnership with Barbora will be at the Cincinnati event while she will play with American Bethanie-Mattek Sands at New Haven before again uniting with the Czech at the US Open. "It was question of availability and also Barbora Strycova has a good backhand, so they also compliment game wise," the source added.
After winning four titles in 2016, they have managed to win only one title in three finals. They also failed to defend their Wimbledon crown. Last month's Montreal event was their last tournament together, where they lost in the quarters.
14
Number of titles won by SanTina
41
Number of consecutive doubles matches won by the World No 1 pair
3
Number of Grand Slam titles won together
16
Number of months the pair played together on the circuit
