Sania Mirza, Barbora Strycova End Doubles Partnership

Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic have decided to split through mutual consent.

The Indian is now set to be paired with Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who ranks 13 in the individual doubles rankings. Both of them would start their campaign with the Madrid Open starting from the 6th of May. 29-year old Shvedova had won the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010. Having chinched 13 career doubles titles on the WTA tour plus one singles feat, Shvedova is the perfect partner for Mirza since her luck wasn't quite in favour for the past few months.

Also Read: Ace Against Odds: The Sania Mirza Story

On the other hand, Strycova will rest this week, so Mirza will temporarily play with another Czech player, Andrea Hlavackova, for the Family Circle cup in Charleston. Mirza had tough months with Strycova with back-to-back tournaments and losses, but is finally now returning home to Hyderabad for a few weeks of rest before the start of the clay court season.

"Yes, 2 titles, 3 finals, 2 semis and a couple of quarter-finals is a pretty decent showing over 10 tournaments together," Mirza's father Imran said. "But while Barbora would like to focus this year on her singles and is finding it exhausting when she goes deep in one or both formats, Sania is looking to win a few more big titles in doubles. Hence, it was mutually decided to part ways, " Imran, who is also Mirza's coach told ESPN.

After winning nine titles, including the WTA Championship, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis had parted ways, and then Mirza had teamed up with Strycova. The duo clinched Cincinnati title in their first tournament together in August last year. But it was very disappointing when they lost in the quarterfinals at the US Open. The pair was unsuccessful at winning any tournament together this year, though they had reached finals of the Miami Open last week.

Mirza started the year on a good note, being named as top player in the WTA individual doubles rankings but, she later slipped to the seventh rank.

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