Just like a couple's relationship that is near the end of their expiration date, in tennis you have to look and search for another and with luck you'll find it. This happen to Hingis and Chan.
"After three grand slam victories and 11 WTA doubles titles together, we have mutually agreed that we would each be open to playing with other players for the remainder of the season" the Chan sisters had said. The Martina Hingis/Sania Mirza pairing had over a year of good times and trophy-gotten goods, but they were apprehensive when a series of losses became too constant. There was much gossip about why the two would split and to lay it to rest Hingis went to her Instagram to say in a matter of a few explanations that "...we have had very high expectations from our partnership and unfortunately did not get the results we desired recently..." Last year after the split, Hingis tried teaming with Coco Vandeweghe. They made the finals in the Cincinnati event and then the semis at the US Open. The winning fizzled out and they broke their pairing.
The Chan sisters, Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan had won 18 WTA doubles titles. They wanted to take a break from each other because as their winning strokes stopped, both though it best to separate and play with other partners as Yung-Jan had said she was trying "to find a new sparkle". Martina Hingis was the new shiny piece for Yung-Jan to join a unit together and they started hanging out together off-court to become acquainted with each other, with their union starting at the Australian Open of this year in 2017.
They played a few times in Asia but three times was the charm as the Hingis/Chan duo produced a title, their first together at the BNP Paribas at Indian Wells this year. Martina was no stranger at the BNP for she had won doubles titles twice before, winning in 1999 with Anna Kournikova and in 2015 with Sania Mirza. Yung-Jan is no stranger either to the BNP at Indian Wells because she was in the final some 10 years ago at 17. Chan remembers back that "...Everything was so new for me. I didn't really know everybody. Just playing whenever I can..." Regardless of the fact that she and her sister lost to Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur only proved that she had the endurance and consistency to land up in a final. Three times was the charm as Hingis celebrated her doubles title with her new partner Yung-Jan in March at Indian Wells and their first together.
The Hingis/Chan team continued the magic of their pairing by entering the 2017 Mutua Madrid Open of which they had the consistency to gather the women's doubles title, their second title together. This makes the first title on clay and they defeated Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. "I think we have the perfect game for each other. This is our fifth tournament together and we already have two titles...this is our first on clay and we won so we're already looking forward to the upcoming tournaments", Hingis and Chan said in unison. Martina displayed a wide smile also for the title being her 100th career title too. They had pushed their success just a bit further during the clay court season when they won the Italian Open in Rome, a die hard match won in two tiebreakers with the team of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5, 7-6.
Martina Hingis and Yung-Jan Chan feel that they are on the perfect track to being a consistent threat to the women's doubles teams on the WTA tour. Next up for the new dynamic duo is the French Open which will be the first grand slam they would have won with each other and the fourth title. They seem to be on the right path and as Hingis says smilingly "That's the key to success, the partnership".
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