Thursday, March 10, 2016

Indian Wells Santina-versary

Full Circle For Santina: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza paired up for the very first time at last year's BNP Paribas Open, winning the event and prompting a 15-match winning streak through Miami and Charleston. The summer following their first Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon proved even more fruitful, taking Santina on a 41-match win streak that included nine titles and two more majors at the US Open and Australian Open.

That incredible run came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open, three matches shy of tying the longest winning streak since 1990 - when Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 matches in a row - forcing Hingis and Mirza to celebrate their one year anniversary on a decidedly unexpected one-match losing streak.

Turning that around won't be an easy ask for the best team in the world; in a jam-packed draw, Santina are set to play a first round against Casey Dellacqua - the current World No.4 who reached the US Open final with Yaroslava Shvedova - and former No.1 Samantha Stosur. Also in their section are Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the very team who beat them in Doha.

But bear in mind: Hingis and Mirza haven't done a whole lot of losing in the last 12 months; should they pass these early hurdles, they could easily catch fire once more and capture their fifth title of 2016.


wtatennis.com

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