Defending WTA Finals doubles champions Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis came together at today's draw ceremony.
The second-seeded Santina will try to rekindle their once strong chemistry when they open their title defense against sisters Yung-Jan Chan and Hao-Ching Chan in the eight-team doubles draw.
During the summer, Hingis and Mirza ended a hugely successful partnership in which the pair won 14 titles in a 16-month span, including three Grand Slam championships, amassed a 41-match winning streak and grew into one of the most popular pairings in recent years.
Time will tell if it's a stressful or successful reunion.
However, even if they successfully defend their Singapore title and reclaim the Martina Navratilova trophy, Hingis and Mirza have called this week a one-time reunion and say they are not planning to rejoin forces in 2017.
Hingis, who paired with Timea Bacsinszky to win the Olympic silver medal in doubles, partnered CoCo Vandweghe in the second half of the season, while Mirza played primarily with Barbora Strycova.
The pair beat Hingis and Vandeweghe in the Cincinnati final, won the Tokyo title and reached the Wuhan final falling to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova. The 36-year-old Hingis made her WTA Finals debut 20 years ago when the tournament was called the Chase Championships and staged at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Hingis reached the 1996 final falling to world No. 1 Steffi Graf in the five-set title match (the season-ending singles final was once a best-of-five set affair).
The woman who has held the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles said she surprised herself partnering with Mirza to win three Grand Slam titles: The 2015 Wimbledon and US Open and the 2016 Australian Open championship.
"Definitely not (what I was expecting) when I was coaching three years ago," Hingis said. "I was happy to have great partners along with Sania in the last couple of years. It was just a dream come true as well winning a couple of more Grand Slams here and there and being back fighting for Grand Slam titles. Its been amazing."
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