After weeks of speculation and subsequent denials, Sweden's world number two tennis star Magnus Norman has admitted what the media long suspected: that he and Swiss world number one Martina Hingis are an item.

"Yes, we are a couple," Norman told his hometown newspaper Vaermlands Folkblad in Saturday's edition. "We have been friends and played together in the same tournaments since we were juniors. But in March it grew into something more."

Rumours of a romance began when Hingis, 19, was seen watching all of Norman's training sessions and matches during the French Open. But the pair denied the reports at the time, saying they were only "good friends."

Martina and Magnus follow on from various “tennis” partnerships including the high profile relationship between Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.