Holding him responsible for the acrimonious selection row that forged forced partnerships at the Olympics, Sania Mirza has parted ways with Mahesh Bhupathi. The two have entered the ongoing US Open with different partners in the mixed doubles category. Sania has teamed up with Scotland’s Colin Fleming while Bhupathi will play alongside the Czech Andrea Hlavackova. “Our commitment was only up to the Olympics and we both thought we needed a break after all that happened in the recent past,” stated Sania.
Sania had accused the the tennis association of using her as a “bait” to pacify Leander Paes with whom Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had refused to pair up. “Mahesh has firmly stood by his commitment to play with his men’s doubles partner Bopanna. In the process, he sacrificed the commitment he made to me to try and win an Olympic medal together,” she had said.