PERTH – The United States marched to their sixth Hopman Cup title with a 2-1 win over Belgium in the final of the mixed teams tournament on Saturday.
The tie was all square after the singles, but the American team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John Isner, capitalising on the absence of top seeds Serbia, claimed the deciding mixed doubles with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans. While it was the first time Isner and Mattek-Sands had claimed the unique diamond-encrusted silver tennis balls presented to the Hopman Cup’s winners, the US are the most successful nation in the 23-year history of the event. It was Belgium’s first appearance in the final. Henin joked that it was impossible to combat the Isner serve in the doubles. “They were the better team,” she said. “He’s just too big, John.”
The Belgians made the final only by replacing Serbia, after Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the tournament with a torn stomach muscle Friday. Henin gave the Belgians the lead with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 win over Mattek-Sands in the women’s singles, before Isner squared the tie with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bemelmans to set up the deciding mixed doubles. The diminutive 28-year-old played some trademark passing shots and won 18 of the last 19 points of the match in a stunning assault that augurs well for her upcoming Australian Open campaign.
The towering Isner simply overpowered the plucky Bemelmans in the men’s singles rubber. Bemelmans, ranked 178 compared to Isner’s 19, couldn’t find a way to blunt the 2.06m American’s powerful serve.
UNHERALDED ARN CLAIMS AUCKLAND CROWN: Unheralded Hungarian Greta Arn produced a fairytale end to her “dream” week of tennis when she beat defending champion Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Auckland Classic on Saturday.
It was only the second tournament win in Arn’s 13 years as a professional and completed a week of upsets for the 31-year-old who knocked over four seeds on her way to the title, including the event’s drawcard Maria Sharapova. Arn originally came to New Zealand to play in the qualifying tournament and was promoted to the main draw following several withdrawals. She described beating Sharapova in the quarter-finals as “living the dream” and refused to be overawed in the final, attacking second-seeded Belgian Wickmayer from the start.
WAWRINKA STUNS BERDYCH TO PLAY CHENNAI FINAL: Stanislas Wawrinka upset top seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets to cruise into his second successive final at the $450,000 Chennai Open on Saturday. The 21st-ranked Swiss, seeded third, attacked from the start to take out world number six Berdych 6-4, 6-1 in 76 minutes at the Nungambakkam Tennis stadium.
Wawrinka, who lost to Marin Cilic in last year’s final, will meet seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium in Sunday’s title clash worth $68,850 and 250 points for the winner. Meanwhile, Malisse of Belgium swept into the final of the Chennai Open with an impressive comeback win over Serbian Janko Tipsarevic on Saturday. Malisse, a Chennai winner in 2007, recovered after losing the first set to knock out the sixth-seeded Tipsarevic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 97 minutes at the Nungambakkam Tennis stadium.
