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New Delhi: In her quest to win a third Grand Slam title, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza will continue to partner Romanian Horia Tecau in the mixed doubles until at least next season's first Grand Slam -- the Australian Open.
Sania and Tecau had joined forces this season for the Wimbledon championship, where they made quarter-finals and also played together at the US Open, making the third round.
Sania today confirmed that she will play with Tecau, world number 23 in doubles, at the Australian Open.
"We had committed to play three tournaments, so we are playing the Australian Open together," Sania told PTI from Hyderabad, where she is practicing with a lot of players from the country at her academy, SMTA.
Sania backed her partnership with the Romanian, who touched a career-high rank of five in 2012 but is now placed 23rd in the doubles.
"He plays backhand side and has a very big serve. He is one of the best doubles player in the world. He volleys very well and has a very good return," she said.
"In one of the Australian Opens we had lost to them in the semifinals, I think two years ago in 2012," she added, referring to her 3-6 3-6 defeat alongside Mahesh Bhupathi against Tecau and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
However, Sania made it clear that this partnership was only for the Australian Open and anything beyond that will be decided later.
"Right now, we are only committed to play in Australian Open, I cannot comment about other tournaments," she said when asked if the French Open is their best chance since the Romanian players are very good on clay courts.
Both of Sania's Grand Slam titles have come with compatriot Bhupathi. However, after the controversy on the players' pairing for the London Olympics, Sania and Bhupathi did not play together.
