Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza said her friendship with Rohan Bopanna on and off the court is helping her develop a good partnership.
The duo won their mixed-doubles game on Thursday as well on Friday. When asked about the secret about their partnership, Mirza said: "Rohan was my first mixed doubles partner at 14years of age. We also played at Hopman Cup and enjoyed a good run. Infact we did not lose for eight or nine years."
"We played so long and Bopanna is one of my closest friends off the court as well, that helps as well. We have been playing for so long and we know how we are going to return or serve, which goes unsaid. We are best friends and our chemistry also helps," she added.
When asked whether she would change her doubles partner Martina Hingis for next year, the Hyderabadi player said "No".
Meanwhile, Bopanna also joked by saying, "I will make sure she will not change the partner after the year she had."
Bopanna also said it wasn't new to play against Paes. On Friday's second game, Bopanna-Dodig lost to Paes-Herbert in a tie-breaker. "I played against him [Paes] more than I played with him, so it is not new," he said.
When asked about what is the reason for the teams success, she said the team chemistry was a reason.
"We play really well as a team. Me and Rohan win most of our mixed matches and once we give the lead, we are kind of always ahead," she said.
"Besides, we get along great. We have great people in our team and trying our best to win. Off court also we got along well and have lot of fun."
When asked about her thoughts about Roger Federer not being in their team after representing them last year.
"It was great to have Roger last year, but we have pretty good replacement [in the form of Rafa Nadal]. It's amazing for IPTl and for me having Roger and Nadal legendary rivalry clash. I am looking forward to it," she said.
Meanwhile, Agnieszka Radwanska was happy with her time so far in India. "It is great to be back in India. The IPTl is great," she said. "I like the team concept in this and rules are good."
When asked what was the reason behind her change in fortunes this year, she said she didn't change much actually.
"I didn't actually change much, but suddenly it started clicking for me. For me the Wimbledon was the crucial one," she explained after reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon.
"I started playing well there in the grass after it I had lot of confidence and the last couple of weeks has been amazing, better than what I imagined," she said after ending the year on a high by winning US Open as well as WTA tour finals.