Sania-Hingis 41-match winning streak comes to a halt

Sania Mirza, right, of India plays a forehand return as her partner Martina Hingis of Switzerland looks on during their semifinal match against Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Indian tennis star >Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis’ 41-match winning streak came to halt after the world number one women’s doubles pair went down fighting in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open, here.

Sania and her Swiss partner Hingis lost to Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina on Thursday night.

The last time the Indo-Swiss pair, who have won three doubles Grand Slams in a row, had lost was way back in Cincinatti last August.

After surviving a gruelling three sets win over an unseeded Chinese pairing in the last round here, luck finally ran out for Sania and Hingis against the Russians despite dominating the first set.

Sania and Hingis have together won four titles this year out of an overall trophy count of 13.

They started the year with wins in Brisbane and Sydney before completing a hat-trick of Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open. The duo had won the St. Petersburg Ladies title earlier this month.