Serena Williams and Nick Kyrgios to Headline Perth's Hopman CupNovember 17, 2014
The 27th edition of the Hopman Cup is two months away, but it's already making buzz. Nine Top 20 players, five grand slam finalists, two grand slam champions. It will be the best entrants in the tournament's history. Australia will be represented by rising star Nick Kyrgios and doubles specialist Casey Dellacqua.
“The 2015 edition of the Hopman Cup promises to be one of the most exciting in history. The field is outstanding, led by Serena Williams of the United States, Andy Murray of Great Britain and the defending champions, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Alize Cornet of France,” International Tennis Federation (ITF) President Francesco Ricci Bitti said.
The Hopman Cup was named in honour of Harry Hopman, one of the top Australian players during the 1930s. He was also the coach of the Australian men's team, guiding them to 15 Davis Cup titles. The tourney is one of warm-up events to the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
So here is how the teams will be divided:
GROUP A
Canada: Vasek Pospisil and Eugenie Bouchard
Czech Republic: Radek Stepanek and Lucie Safarova
Italy: Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta
United States: Jack Sock and Serena Williams
GROUP B
Australia: Nick Kyrgios and Casey Dellacqua
France: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Alizé Cornet
Great Britain: Andy Murray and Heather Watson
Poland: Jerzy Janowicz and Agnieszka Radwańska
The tournment's history is interesting. Here are some tidbits:
1. Hopman Cup is the only tournament where mixed-gender teams play on a country by country basis.
2. Burswood Dome, an entertainment complex near Swan River, was the venue of the tournament from 1989-2012. It was moved to Perth Arena on 2013.
3. Lucy Hopman, Harry's widow, travels to the tournament annually. (She lives in the US.)
4. The first edition took place in 1989. Miloslav MeÄíÅ™ and Helena Suková of Czechoslovakia defeated Pat Cash and Hana Mandlikova of Australia at 2-0.
5. Serena William will be looking for her third title. Williams and James Blake won the trophy in 2002. She and Mardy Fish won in 2008.
6. United States is the winningest team, lifting the cup seven times.
7. Australia won in 1999. Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokić gave the host team its only title.
8. Aside from Williams, the other two-time winners are Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Tommy Robredo, Dominik Hrbatý, and Blake.
9. Marat Safin and Dinara Safina of Russia lost the 2009 finals to Hrbatý and Dominika Cibulková of Slovakia. They were the only brother-and-sister team to compete in the tournament.
10. Monica Seles and Goran Prpić won the tournament in 1991, representing Yugoslavia. Ten years later, Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill were finalists, representing the US.
11. The 13th edition saw Switzerland edging the US for their second Hopman Cup. Roger Federer and Martina Hingis played for the Swiss team.
12. Thailand is the only Asian team to reach the finals. Paradorn Srichaphan and Tamarine Tanasugarn were runners-up to Wayne Ferreira and Amanda Coetzer of South Africa in 2000.
13. This year's edition saw the French duo of Tsonga and Cornet edging the Polish tandem of Grzegorz Panfil and Radwańska at 2-1. It was the first title for France.
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