Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis' 41 match-winning streak ends in Qatar

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis' dream winning run had to end one day, and it happened during the Qatar Open, Thursday. The Indo-Swiss pair's run of 41 matches was brought to an end by Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, after they defeated Sania and Hingis in a thrilling encounter.

Santina, as the pair is popularly called, were chasing the record of longest women's doubles win streak of 109 matches, which was set by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. One wonders if the record can ever be broken.

This Qatar Open loss was Sania and Hingis' first loss, since their defeat in Cincinatti in August last year. The duo was enjoying a terrific run, winning title after title, including Grand Slams. The Indo-Swiss pair won the US Open (in 2015) and Australia Open (2016), after clicnhing the Wimbledon title in 2015. 

Sania and Hingis were the favourites in the ongoing Qatar Open as well, where they lost to Vesnina and Kasatkina. The Indo-Swiss pair started the match, as usual, brilliantly, but the Russian pair came back strongly, to win the match 2-6, 6-4, 10-5.

The winning pair was visibly excited after such an amazing result. They could not believe they had just beaten the near-unbeatable Sania and Hingis, who have been dominating the women's dobles circuit. Vesnina also expressed her happiness after defeating the top seeds.

"That was an amazing match for us," Vesnina was quoted as saying by WTA official website.

"We played against them just a week ago, and they're one of the greatest doubles teams we have in women's tennis. I think everything worked today for us to win, and we're just so excited about it.

"We changed our tactics a little bit in the second set, and we saw that it started to work. We stuck to this game plan, and were a little bit lucky on some points, but it's always like this in doubles with deciding points. Dasha played really well on key moments. She just went for her shots and made a lot of good volleys today, so we're really pleased and proud about this win."

Despite the defeat, Sania and Hingis are going to remain favourites for major titles in the year. The world number one pair will have their eyes now on the next Grand Slam -- the French Open.