Federer and Bencic win the Hopman Cup again
Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic defended their title at the Hopman Cup in Perth. The Swiss pairing defeated Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber with 2-1 victories.
by tennisnet
last edit: Jan 05, 2019, 01:50 pm
Defending champion Switzerland has repeated its triumph in what is probably the last edition of the Hopman Cup in Perth. After Roger Federer defeated Alexander Zverev in two sets at the start, Angelique Kerber equalized in the women's singles that followed . The prerequisites were the same as at the beginning of 2018.
And again it was the two Swiss who won the decisive doubles: this time with 4: 0, 1: 4 and 4: 3 (4) after Zverev and Kerber had made another remarkable comeback in the third set.
After the set equalization, Zverev was initially able to fend off two breakballs at the start of round three, while the third number made a double mistake for the German number one. Federer and Kerber brought their service games through, Bencic made it 3-1 with a little effort. Zverev brought the German team back to 2: 3 - and Federer did not manage to reserve the match. A tie-break had to make the decision. With a score of 3: 3, Zverev made a magical return to the field, Federer fended off the first match ball of the Germans. The crucial point was also the most spectacular in the whole match.
Whether there will be another edition of the Hopman Cup, however, is more than questionable: for 2020, ATP has planned the first edition of the ATP Cup for the first week in the tour calendar. Probably with the venue Perth. Unfortunately without female participation.