Australian Open: Hopman Hopes, GB Expects, And Murray Is Confident He Can Win

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at Internationaled.org

Published: January 8, 2010

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While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal draw the crowds and the publicity in Doha, and Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin get the media frothing at the mouth in Brisbane, there’s some fabulous tennis taking the Australians by storm in the baking temperatures of Perth.

The Hopman Cup isn’t on the A.T.P. or W.T.A. radar.

It’s an event with no points at stake for the pairings of men and women who are representing their home nations.

But it is supported by the I.T.F., it is managed by Paul McNamee, and it has drawn an array of big-name players and talent to Western Australia.

While the Hopman Cup may not attract the hype of the Doha men and the Brisbane women, it can give the rest of the week’s tournaments a run for their money. On the men’s side, it has world No. 4 Andy Murray, No. 16 Tommy Robredo, No. 22 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 27 Philipp Kohlschreiber, and three more top 50 players.

The women, too, are holding their own, with Elena Dementieva, currently No. 5, Sam Stosur, No. 13, Sabine Lisicki, No. 22, and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, No. 26.  Adding yet more interest to the event is the presence of American wunderkind Melanie Oudin and the burgeoning British talent, 15-year-old Laura Robson.

And it’s the British teenager who has set the tournament alight, helped not a little by her elder-brother-style pairing with Murray. For if Murray thought the tournament would give him a light workout ahead of the Australian Open, he was mistaken. Their mixed doubles pairing has been a revelation, reaping such success that team G.B. has made the finals.

The Hopman Cup is now in its 21st year, and was the brainchild of McNamee and fellow Australian Pat Cash. It is named after Harry Hopman, one of Australia’s greatest coaches and doubles players, and it is because of Hopman that the mixed doubles plays a central role in the event: It was his favorite event.

The competition is st...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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