SPORTS

Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis part ways

August 09, 2016 20:25 IST

Indian tennis ace to team up with Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

Martina to pair with Coco Vandeweghe of the United States.

IMAGE: Sania Mirza (left) and Martina Hingis celebrate winning a point. Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis have decided to end their astonishing partnership that earned them nine titles, including the WTA Finals, last year.

The Indian tennis ace and the Swiss began their partnership last March with a bang, winning three titles on the trot -- at Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston.

Sania and Martina took the number one team ranking when they won the Charleston event, the Indian becoming the top-ranked individual.

The Hyderabadi also bagged her first women's doubles Grand Slam title by winning at Wimbledon in the 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 this is a regular phenomena; you can change the partner if results are not coming," a source close to Sania said.

Sania will now team up with world No 21 Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic while Martina has teamed up with Coco Vandeweghe of the United States.

Sania's partnership with Barbora will commence at the Cincinnati event, while she will play with former partner Bethanie-Mattek Sands of the US at New Haven before again uniting with the Czech at the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the season.

"It was question of availability and also Barbora Strycova has a good backhand, so they also compliment game wise," the source added, when asked about the choice.

Sania and Martina carried their red hot form into the 2016 season by winning four events on the trot, including the Australia Open, their third Grand Slam together.

They put together an incredible 41 match-winning streak which ended this year in February at Doha where they lost to Russians Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina.

However, for a world number one pair, the results in the last five months have not been encouraging. After winning four titles at the start of the season, they won only one, at Rome, after that in three finals.

They also failed to defend their Wimbledon crown. Last month's Montreal event happened to be their last tournament together, where they lost in the quarter-finals.

They won 14 titles, including three Majors, together during the 16-month partnership. The Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati will begin on August 15.

Both Sania and Martina are playing in the Rio Olympics.

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