SanTina - the World No. 1 pairing of Indian Sania Mirza and Swiss Martina Hingis - have split. The Indo-Swiss combination, who swept everything before them in 2015 to usurp the top spot in the WTA rankings, have entered the US Open and lead-up events with different partners.
While the big-hitting Indian, whose ground game was the foundation of the partnership, will play alongside Czech Barbora Strycova, Hingis will partner American Coco Vendeweghe. Imran, Sania's father and long-standing coach, confirmed the breakup, but refused to comment.
The 29-year-old Sania and Hingis, who'll celebrate her 36th birthday next month - a dangerous mix of heavy strikes and soft hands - appeared to have lost their mojo in recent months, falling early in the French Open and Wimbledon. The World No. 1 team, having lost in the quarter-final of their last tournament together in Montreal in late July, fell to the 165th-ranked pair of Americans Christina McHale and Asia Muhammad. The straight-set loss posed serious questions to the top seeds.
They decided to part ways before heading to Rio for the Olympic Games. Sania, who lost in the first round of women's doubles in Rio partnering young debutant Prathna Thombare, is also in the mixed doubles draw, where she teamed up with Rohan Bopanna. Sania will play with the 30-year-old Strycova in Cincinnati after the Olympics, before travelling to New York for the final Grand Slam of the year. After winning their first four outings of the year in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne (Australian Open) and St Petersburg, and on a 41-match winning streak, SanTina were stopped in Doha. Thereafter, the Indo-Swiss pair was never the same force again.
