HopmanCup XXVI

AUSSIES BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS P8-9RADWANSKA IN POLE POSITION P2

Thursday, December 19, 2013

The teamWriters: Russell Reid, Bridget Lacy, Nick RynneDesigner: Dijana JovanovicPictures: Getty Images, The West Australian

USA eye record seventh crown 3Stephens has world at her feet 4All the games 5Tsonga aces his injuries 7

Tomic, Stosur hope for happy new year 8-9

Canadian teen wants revenge 11Kvitova feels the heat 12

Italy’s late bloomer 13Memory lane 14Spain’s heroine returns 15

Index

Agnieszka Radwanska

Born: 6/3/1989Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 5Highest ranking: 2 (9/7/12)Career singles titles: 13Career doubles titles: 2Career prize money: $14.1m

Jerzy JanowiczBorn: 13/11/1990Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 21Highest ranking: 14 (12/8/13)Career singles titles: 0Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $2m

Janowicz

Radwanska

Thursday, December 19, 2013HOPMAN CUP XXVI

Poland enter the Hopman Cup fray forthe first time in the populartournament’s 26th year.

The young pairing of AgnieszkaRadwanska and Jerzy Janowicz havebeen trailblazers for their country in asport that the Polish have traditionallystruggled in and now they are the first torepresent their flag at the unique $1 million mixed teams event.

And they will like their chances oflifting the trophy in their country’s

debut.Organisers agree with that

assessment, seeding the PolesNo.1, despite the fact they

have never played mixeddoubles together.

They will openthe tournamentwhen they takeon the Italian

team of FlaviaPennetta and Andreas Seppi.

World No.5 Radwanska comes to Perthas the highest-ranked female player inthe field.

“I am very excited to play at theHopman Cup for the first time,” she said.

“I saw a couple of times players playingHopman Cup and it was veryentertaining, so I’m looking forward toit.”

Radwanska has been a consistentperformer since breaking into the top 10

in 2008.The 24-year-old

has made thequarterfinals orbetter at everygrand slamtournament except

the US Open, whereshe has been bundled

out in the fourth roundfor the past two years.

She enjoyed a solid 2013, withanother three WTA Tour wins to hername and an appearance at theseason-ending championships inTurkey.

But she is yet to claim her maidengrand slam title.

A three-set loss to superstar Serena

Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final isthe closest she has come.

Radwanska is considered one of thesmartest players on tour, relying more ontouch and shot selection than power togive her an edge over her opponents.

But her record against the top playershas been her Achilles heel.

Radwanska will be hoping playing insimilar conditions to Rod Laver Arena atPerth Arena will help her eclipse her besteffort at the Australian Open — aquarterfinal appearance, which she hasachieved in each of the past three years.

Radwanska is excited to play her firstmixed doubles match in five years withrising 23-year-old Janowicz.

The 204cm, big-hitting right-hander hasenjoyed a breakout year, reaching acareer-high ranking of 14 in August.

Janowicz, who only two years agocould not afford to travel to Melbournefor Australian Open qualifying, becamethe first Polish man to make a semifinalat a grand slam event at Wimbledon thisyear.

The current No.21 is keen to have animpact in Perth.

“I was talking to Agnieszka and wedecided it might be a lot of fun to playtogether at the Hopman Cup,” Janowiczsaid.

“We never had a Hopman Cup teambefore in Poland so it’s going to be a lot offun.”

Poland pair hope it’s first time lucky■ Bridget Lacy

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John Isner and Sloane Stephens will beout to steer USA to a record seventhHyundai Hopman Cup title at PerthArena from December 28 to January 4.

The Americans have been seeded No.2,behind Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz andAgnieszka Radwanska.

Poland will make their Hopman debut,but Isner has already held the covetedtrophy aloft.

The big-serving American teamed withBethanie Mattek-Sands to beat Belgium’sRuben Bemelmans and Justine Henin inthe 2011 final.

That victory followed previous USAwins in 1997 (Justin Gimelstob/ChandaRubin), 2003 (James Blake/SerenaWilliams), 2004 (Blake/LindsayDavenport), 2006 (Taylor Dent/LisaRaymond) and 2008 (MardyFish/Williams).

Isner is best known for winning thelongest match in the sport’s history, hisWimbledon victory against FrenchmanNicolas Mahut, 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3)70-68, in the first round in 2010 which wasplayed over three days and lasted 11hours and five minutes.

The 28-year-old world No.13 said he waskeen to reacquaint himself with Perth

crowds after being forced out of lastsummer’s tournament with a knee injurybefore the third-round clash with Spain.

That injury conceivably cost Isner andpartner Venus Williams a place in thefinal. Eventual champions Spain wonthrough to the tournament deciderbecause of their 3-0 walkover againstUSA.

“Every time I have played the HopmanCup I have enjoyed myself so much,”Isner said. “I’ve absolutely loved my timein Perth.”

Big-serving Isner said the unique WestAustralian event provided the ideallead-up for the Australian Open twoweeks later at Melbourne Park.

“For me, playing the Hopman Cup isperfect preparation for the AustralianOpen,” he said.

“It allows me to get down there early,get used to the heat and, on top of that,get top-notch, quality matches.”

Rising star Stephens will be makingher Perth debut. The 20-year-old beatcountrywoman Serena Williams en routeto the semifinals at this year’s AustralianOpen and also reached the fourth roundat the French Open and quarterfinals atWimbledon.

Radwanska (No.5) and Janowicz (21)are two of 10 top-25 ranked players in the

field for Hopman Cup XXVI. Janowiczwas the first male Polish player to reach agrand slam semifinal when he lost toScotsman Andy Murray 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4 6-3at Wimbledon this year.

Flamboyant Frenchman Jo-WilfriedTsonga and Alize Cornet have beenseeded No.3, and Canadian young gunsMilos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchardround out the top four.

Powerful left-hander Petra Kvitova andRadek Stepanek are capable of creatingheadaches despite being ranked fifth.

Stepanek, the hero of consecutiveCzech Republic Davis Cup wins in 2012and 2013, is an accomplished doublesplayer. Kvitova has had success in Perth,the world No.7 combining with TomasBerdych to win the 2012 Hopman title.

Six months earlier, Kvitova won herfirst grand slam tournament title atWimbledon, and by the end of 2011 shehad also claimed the WTA Championshipand achieved a career-high ranking ofNo.2.

Italians Flavia Pennetta and AndreasSeppi, the No. 6 seeds, face an uphillbattle, but Australians Samantha Stosurand Bernard Tomic, the seventh seedsout to win the host nation’s first titlesince Mark Philippoussis and JelenaDokic in 1999, will be dangerous if theyhit top form.

Spain’s Tommy Robredo and AnabelMedina Garrigues are seeded No.8 butare genuine title contenders.

Medina Garrigues is the defendingtitleholder and Robredo is a dual winner.

Flashback: Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and Anabel Medina Garrigues with the spoils of success after winning the Hopman Cup in January. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Americans gun forseventh heaven■ Russell Reid

Elation: Verdasco and Medina Garrigues hug after snaring the title in the doubles.

Isner

Stephens

Sloane StephensBorn: 20/3/1993Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 12Highest ranking: 11 (12/10/13) Career singles titles: 0Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $2.1m

John IsnerBorn: 26/4/1985Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 14Highest ranking: 9 (16/4/12)Career singles titles: 7Career doubles titles: 3Career prize money: $5.7m

Thursday, December 19, 2013HOPMAN CUP XXVI

This time last year Sloane Stephens wasa relative unknown.

But the 20-year-old well and trulyannounced herself at the AustralianOpen in January, steaming past worldNo.1 Serena Williams on the way to herfirst grand slam semifinal.

That performance made Stephens agiant killer, but also marked her as one ofthe most exciting prospects in the game.

Stephens is yet to record a WTA Tourtitle win but has shown she belongs inthe big time, making the fourth round orbetter at all four grand slams this year asshe climbed 26 ranking spots to No.12 inthe world.

Along with her stunning win overchildhood idol Williams, she enjoyedvictory over top-five ranked MariaSharapova and is the youngest woman

inside the top 20.Stephens has almost 79,000 Twitter

followers, has appeared on popularUS chat show Ellen and is the clearheir apparent to Williams.

She has the world at her feet andis making her Hopman Cup debutas one half of the No.2 seeds.

“I had an awesome three weeksin Australia this year so I’mlooking forward to going to Perth

and being able to play there,”Stephens said.

The $1 million mixed teamstournament has been a happy huntingground for the Americans over its 25years, claiming the trophy a record sixtimes.

Stephens will be partnered by a manwho has been a regular visitor to Perthand knows how to win here — John Isner.

The big-serving 206cm 28-year-oldfirst played the Hopman Cup in 2010.

He won with BethanieMattek-Sands in 2011 and teamedwith Venus Williams at the lastevent.

The world No.14 is famous forplaying in the longest match inthe sport’s history, winning hisfirst-round Wimbledon contest in2010 over Frenchman NicolasMahut 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3)70-68. The match lasted morethan 11 hours.

But his grand slamperformances in general havebeen underwhelming.

His 2011 quarterfinal loss atthe US Open remains his best

result at a slam. A fourth-roundappearance in 2010 is the deepest he hasgone in Melbourne.

He withdrew from the Australian Openlast summer after injuring a knee inPerth, but this time he is hoping a WAappearance will help him reach greaterheights at Melbourne Park.

“Every time I have played I’ve enjoyedmyself so much,” Isner said.

“I absolutely love my time in Perth.“For me playing the Hopman Cup is

perfect preparation for the AustralianOpen. It allows me to get down thereearly, get used to the heat, and on top ofthat get top-notch, quality matches.”

A knee problem forced Isner to alsoretire early at Wimbledon.

The giant American, who has wontwice on the ATP Tour for threeconsecutive years, has admitted it is aproblem he will have to manage.

“I had an MRI done and had peoplelook at it,” he said of the issue lastmonth.

“I’m not going to need surgery butthere is an issue under my kneecap.

“It’s about getting everythingsurrounding the knee stronger.

“It doesn’t bother me at all when I’mjust walking around. But sometimes ithurts when I’m doing somethingstrenuous.

“I can’t baby this knee forever. I need topush myself.”

Stephens has theworld at her feet■ Bridget Lacy

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The schedule

Session Day Date Time TeamSession 1 Saturday December 28 10am Poland v ItalySession 2 Saturday December 28 5.30pm Canada v AustraliaSession 3 Sunday December 29 10am Czech Republic v SpainSession 4 Sunday December 29 5.30pm Poland v CanadaSession 5 Monday December 30 10am USA v SpainSession 6 Monday December 30 5.30pm France v Czech RepublicSession 7 Tuesday December 31 10am Italy v AustraliaSession 8 Wednesday January 1 5.30pm USA v FranceSession 9 Thursday January 2 10am Italy v CanadaSession 10 Thursday January 2 5.30pm Poland v AustraliaSession 11 Friday January 3 10am France v SpainSession 12 Friday January 3 5.30pm Czech Republic v USASession 13 Saturday January 4 5.30pm Winner Group A v Winner Group B

Group APoland (1) Agnieszka Radwanska and Jerzy JanowiczCanada (4) Eugenie Bouchard and Milos RaonicItaly (6) Flavia Pennetta and Andreas SeppiAustralia (7) Samantha Stosur and Bernard Tomic

Group BUSA (2) Sloane Stephens and John IsnerFrance (3) Alize Cornet and Jo-Wilfried TsongaCzech Republic (5) Petra Kvitova and Radek StepanekSpain (8) Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo

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Tsonga

Alize CornetBorn: 22/1/1990Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 27Highest ranking: 11 (16/2/09)Career singles titles: 3Career doubles titles: 2Career prize money: $2.5m

Jo-Wilfried TsongaBorn: 17/4/1985Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 10Highest ranking: 5 (27/2/12)Career singles titles: 10Career doubles titles: 4Career prize money: $12.4m

Cornet

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Flamboyant Frenchman Jo-WilfriedTsonga will be fully fit when he arrives inPerth for his second consecutive HopmanCup this month.

The world No.10 is one of the headlineacts for the $1 million mixed teams eventat Perth Arena, returning after being apopular debutant at the tournament in2012-2013.

“My experience last year was great,”Tsonga said.

“The Arena, the fans and everythingsurrounding the event made it specialand thus I wanted to come back. It is agreat preparation for Melbourne (theAustralian Open) and I really enjoyedspending 10 days in Perth.”

Tsonga has had a mixed year thanks tothe knee problem he suffered in thesecond round at Wimbledon and wasforced to pull out of the US Open.

Tsonga narrowly failed to qualify forthe ATP World Tour Finals, which is forthe top eight players in the world,finishing the season ranked No.10.

The 28-year-old peaked at a high of No.5early in 2012, but he has dropped to hislowest ranking in more than two years inrecent months largely due to the time ithas taken to get over the niggling kneeinjury. Ahead of his arrival in Perth,Tsonga declared he was in good shape.

“The injury is behind me,” he said.“The doctors told me that it would be

five months before it was completely backto normal and we are approaching thismark. 2013 carries mixed feelings for me.

“I had a good start of the season inAustralia and a semifinal at my home

tournament (the French Open) at RolandGarros. But since then the knee injuryoccupied most of my time and I have beenunable to compete at the highest level.”

Tsonga had been due to play alongsideWimbledon winner Marion Bartoli at theHopman Cup but was as shocked asanyone when she announced herretirement in the wake of thebreakthrough win.

He will now team with 23-year-old AlizeCornet, who is ranked No.27.

“I was surprised at first and felt forsure that Marion would come backwithin a few months, but now it isprobably safe to say that she quit forgood,” he said.

Tsonga has dumped Australian coachRoger Rasheed and hired countrymenNicolas Escude and Thierry Ascione.He was unsure of any tweaks theywould make to his game.

Tsonga, who has been on theprofessional tour for almost adecade, first broke into thetop 10 in 2008 — the year helost the Australian Openfinal to Novak Djokovic.

He has not surrenderedhis top 10 ranking sincethe end of 2011 but is yetto break through for agrand slam title.

“I am workingtowards this goal andwill always try myhardest,” Tsonga said.

“My goals for 2014are first to be injuryfree and then to play arole in the big eventsagainst the topguys.”

Tsonga andCornet face theCzech Republic’sRadek Stepanekand Petra Kvitovafirst-up onDecember 30.

Tsonga bouncesback from injury ■ Bridget Lacy

Samantha StosurBorn: 30/3/1984Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 18Highest ranking: 4 (21/2/11)Career singles titles: 5Career doubles titles: 24Career prize money: $13m

Bernard TomicBorn: 21/10/1992Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 51Highest ranking: 27 (11/6/12)Career singles titles: 1Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $1.9m

Tomic

Ball in Tomic’s courtto forge grand career

Thursday, December 19, 2013HOPMAN CUP XXVI

Fo

Bernard Tomic is used to his name beingin the headlines.

The 21-year-old has earned the ire ofofficials and fans across the country bypublicly and repeatedly displaying hisfondness for bright lights, fast cars andthe odd nightclub lap dance or two.

Add an over-zealous tennis father slashcoach to the mix and it could almost bethe plot of a badly-written sports movie.

But what often gets lost is the factTomic represents Australia’s best hope ofmatching it with the best in the worldonce again.

The Queenslander burst on to the sceneas an 18-year-old in 2011, reaching thequarterfinals at Wimbledon beforestumbling against world No.2 NovakDjokovic in a four-set defeat.

More than 18 months of inconsistencywere to follow, but when Tomic defeatedDjokovic, who by then had climbed toNo.1 in the world, at last year’s HopmanCup and followed it up with an inauguralsingles title at the Sydney International,many were predicting 2013 would be hisbreakout year.

Unfortunately, niggling injuries and anongoing saga which saw his father Johnbanned by the ATP for assaulting hisson’s hitting partner Thomas Drouet,meant he failed to get off the ground.

Despite predicting a top-10 finish forhimself, Tomic climbed just one place in2013, finishing the year ranked No.51.

He was knocked out in the openinground of his last five tournaments in adisastrous end to a forgettable 2013.

But he did manage to mend fences withDavis Cup captain Pat Rafter, who hadlambasted Tomic’s attitude whendropping him from the team in 2012.

Tomic and Rafter united in the bid toreturn Australia to the Davis Cup WorldGroup.

Rafter rated Tomic’s attitude as thebest he’s seen it heading into September’sclay court World Group play-off victoryover Poland in Warsaw.

“We’re really impressed with how he’sbeen going,” Rafter said. “We’re allstarting to understand each other a bitbetter and we’re all on the same page.”

Asked to put his finger on what hadchanged with Tomic’s attitude, Rafter

said: “I don’t know. He’s had to make thedecision. He’s slowly maturing maybe sofingers crossed that’s the way it’s going.”

But another Australian great, JohnNewcombe, this month warned Tomic heneeded to train harder or be forced to livewith regrets, citing the examples of MarkPhilippoussis and axed Wallabies rugbystar James O’Connor.

“You can hit nightclubs, it dependswhen you hit them. If you’re inoff-season, you’re going out it’s fine —(but not) if you’re in the middle of atournament or when you should betraining hard,” Newcombe said.

“In the end, it’s going to come down toBernie.

“What he decides he wants to be in hisown mind.”

Leading into 2014, the Tomic camp isagain optimistic of challenging theworld’s best over the next 12 months.

Hopman Cup XXVI will be thebig-serving right-hander’s firsttournament under new coach VelimirZovko, who arrived in Australia earlierthis month.

The Croatian will act as an interimmentor to Tomic and work alongside hisfather.

Speaking in the lead-up to the Perthtournament, Tomic declared a top-20finish the goal for next year, taking amore conservative approach than lastyear’s bold prediction.

But rest assured, his long-term goalsremain far grander.

“Generations will move on, for sure. Intwo or three years there will be noFederers,” Tomic said.

“They will slowly start moving andfour-five years from now it will be atotally different group of players in thetop 10.

“It gives a chance for players like(Milos) Raonic and (Grigor) Dimitrov andmyself to get into that spot, and take overand dominate.

“I’ve got to stay positive, keep working,and my time will come to get to thatstage.”

Love him or hate him, the Gold Coastparty boy isn’t going anywhere in ahurry.

And if he can begin to live up to hissoaring potential, the headlines may startto turn in his favour.

■ Nick Rynne

Perth gives Aussies chance to

013HOPMAN CUP XXVI

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Samantha Stosur is accustomed to thenation’s expectations weighing on hershoulders at this time of year.

As Australia’s best-performed singlesplayer for some time now, the 29-year-oldhas always been expected to light up onher home turf.

It is a position she has clearly beenuncomfortable in.

Over the past three seasons Stosur hasdefied her top-10 ranking to record earlyexits in all of her nine tournaments onAustralian soil. A third-round loss toPetra Kvitova at the 2011 Australian Openwas her best result.

However, approaching Hopman CupXXVI Stosur finds herself cast in acompletely different role.

This year, instead of everyoneexpecting her to dominate proceedings,they’re just hoping she can rediscoverher fight.

The 2011 US Open champion finishedlast season ranked No.18 in the world, herworst result since 2008.

It wasn’t a season without highlights,her singles titles at Carlsbad and Osakaare testament to that, it’s just that thelowlights came on far bigger stages.

Stosur did reach the final in her lastthree tournaments, winning at Osakabefore twice falling to Romanian SimonaHalep at Moscow and Sofia.

She’s also found a new coach in MilesMaclagan, who has worked withWimbledon champion Andy Murray.

“That’s somewhere where I’ve been thelast few years and somewhere where I’veproved myself to be capable of being withthose top girls, so I definitely want to tryto get back to there, or hopefully evenbetter,” Stosur said.

“But the only way you can do that is bywinning matches, and you’ve got to dothat in the biggest events and the goal hasdefinitely got to be the grand slams.”

Stosur

Sound season finish hasStosur hopeful for 2014■ Nick Rynne

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Raonic

Bouchard

Eugenie BouchardBorn: 25/2/1994Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 32Highest ranking: 32 (14/10/13)Career singles titles: 0Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $505,000

Milos RaonicBorn: 27/12/1990Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 11Highest ranking: 10 (12/8/13)Career singles titles: 5Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $3.7m

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Teenager Eugenie Bouchard can’t wait toexact some revenge against SamanthaStosur when Australia and Canada clashon December 28, the opening night of theHyundai Hopman Cup.

Stosur posted a three-set win againstBouchard to clinch the Japan Open inearly October, the Australian finishingthe year strongly with victory at Osakabefore consecutive losses in the final ofthe Kremlin Cup and Tournament ofChampions against emerging RomanianSimona Halep.

“It’s funny because I just played her inthe second last tournament of the yearand now I will be starting out against heragain in the first tournament of nextseason,” Bouchard said.

“It will be fun to play in Australia. Shewill have the crowd advantage, but it willbe really good. Obviously, she is a greatplayer but I look forward to getting somerevenge.”

Playing for the first time in Perth,Bouchard said she was glad for anotherchance to represent her country afterplaying Fed Cup ties earlier this year.

“This is like a team kind of thing too,”she said.

“Tennis players play individualtournaments all year, so to have a fewweeks out of the year where we play as ateam and work together … it’s always funto experience that.”

Bouchard said teaming up with worldNo.11 Milos Raonic, who has had hisserve clocked at 255km/h, would be abonus.

“We’ve never played mixeddoubles together so that willbe interesting to see,”Bouchard said.

“Milos is obviously a really good playerand I will be relying on him to win somematches and serve some bombs in mixeddoubles. I expect to do nothing, even atthe net, because I just don’t expect ballsto come back on Milos’ service games.”

Bouchard hopes to follow in thefootsteps of Raonic, who recently becamethe first Canadian player to break intothe top 10.

“Milos has had some good success,which has increased the popularity oftennis in Canada. I hope to do the same.He’s ended his year really well, which isgood for him going into next year. I wantto work hard and be as good as I can beand whatever that ranking is, we’ll see.”

Bouchard is no stranger to chalking upfirsts for her country, the 19-year-oldbecoming the first Canadian to win agrand slam singles title when she beatUkrainian Elina Svitolina to claim theWimbledon girls title in 2012.

Achieving her best results at the famedgrass tournament, Bouchard combinedwith Americans Grace Min and TaylorTownsend to win the junior Wimbledondoubles titles of 2011 and 2012.

Bouchard said that doubles experiencewould come in handy in the HopmanCup, where mixed doubles rubbers candecide ties.

“That gave me a lot of confidence and Iwas able to build on that and play wellnot only in the juniors but the pros (WTAtournaments),” she said.

“This is my first full year on the (WTA)tour and I’ve played all the pro grandslams, so it’s a different taste.

“I got to see real life on the tour andhow tough it is, week in and week outplaying against great players, so I feellike I’ve learnt a lot this year.”

Net gain forCanadian teen■ Russell Reid

Petra KvitovaBorn: 8/3/1990Plays: Left-handedCurrent ranking: 6Highest ranking: 2 (31/10/11)Career singles titles: 11Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $11.8m

Radek StepanekBorn: 27/11/1978Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 44Highest ranking: 8 (10/7/06)Career singles titles: 5Career doubles titles: 17Career prize money: $9.6m

Stepanek

Kvitova

Thursday, December 19, 2013HOPMAN CUP XXVI

Last time Petra Kvitova came to Perth forthe Hopman Cup she was tipped to be thenew world No.1 within months.

The big-hitting left-hander had brokeninto the top 10 for the first time at the beginning of 2011, before steamrollingher way to a Wimbledon title and thenwinning the WTA’s season-endingtournament.

In Perth, the then world No.2 teamedwith Tomas Berdych to claim thechampionship and went on to produce herbest Australian Open performance, anexit in the semifinals.

But since then Kvitova has failed to liveup to the hype.

The 23-year-old is not sure what hasheld her back since her incredibleperformances two years ago.

But she does admit to letting thepressure of expectation get the better ofher.

“It was for me testing to be on the topand to handle the pressure,” Kvitovarevealed.

“When I get for the first time top 10,when I won Wimbledon, there was a lot ofpressure on my back and I really felt itand it was tough to get used to.

“And it’s still there. I am almost alwaysfavourite so it’s not easy every time and you have to be readyfor it.”

Kvitova believes she ishandling the mental stressbetter now but says it is aconstant battle.

Her 2011 results showwhat she is capable of,

so she hopes her besttennis is still ahead

of her.“That season in

2011 I know thatit’s hard to

repeat and Iam very

determined to get back to my form of2011,” Kvitova said.

“I hope that slowly I am trying to findthe good game again.”

The world No.6 described her 2013 asup and down but said a strong finish hadgiven her confidence.

“I felt very good on the court,comfortable, I moved very well, so it’s avery good sign for next season,” Kvitovasaid.

“I have a lot that I can improve. I have anew fitness coach, so I am trying toimprove my fitness … I want to improvemy serve.

“I can’t say any number (of tournamentwins I want to achieve in 2014) but Iwould like to have a better result in grandslams next year.”

Kvitova returns to WA for the $1 million mixed teams event focused onwinning the trophy again for the CzechRepublic, this time joining forces withveteran Radek Stepanek.

The pair are believed to be dating buthave never played doubles together.

“He is a great doubles specialist, he hasa great volley, so I hope we can be a goodteam on the court,” Kvitova said.

She said she was looking forward toexperiencing Perth Arena for the firsttime.

“It was great in 2012,” Kvitova said.“I enjoyed it a lot, it was my firsttime and we won it, so it is always

nice memories and I am lookingforward to being there again.

“You are promised to play atleast three matches.

“I saw some pictures (of theArena) and it’s lookingbeautiful, so that’s one of thenew things that I am really

looking forward to.”Kvitova plans to arrive

in Perth early andhopes to explore

the city and hitthe beach.

Kvitova facespressure test■ Bridget Lacy

Flavia PennettaBorn: 25/2/1982Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 31Highest ranking: 10 (17/8/09)

Career singles titles: 9Career doubles titles: 15Career prize money: $7.4m

Andreas Seppi is out to improve hisHopman Cup singles form and maintainan unbeaten mixed doubles record.

World No.25 Seppi lost each of hissingles matches at Hopman Cup XXV lastJanuary, beaten by Serbia’s NovakDjokovic, Australian Bernard Tomic andGerman veteran Tommy Haas on hisdebut at the unique Perth event.

Seppi had more joy in the mixed,partnering Francesca Schiavone to threewins in as many matches againstDjokovic and Ana Ivanovic, Tomic andAshleigh Barty and Haas and TatjanaMalek at Perth Arena.

The Perth tournament proved to be alaunch pad for the smooth-strokingItalian, who reached the semifinals of theSydney International the following weekbefore losing to eventual championTomic.

Seppi broke into the top 20 for the firsttime later that month after qualifying forthe fourth round at the Australian Open,beating Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos,Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and CroatianMarin Cilic before bowing out toFrenchman Jeremy Chardy.

The 29-year-old had mixed results forthe balance of the year, the highlightsbeing a quarterfinal loss to Djokovic inDubai (extending Seppi’s winless recordagainst Djokovic to 11-0) and afourth-round loss to Scotsman AndyMurray in Miami.

Seppi is a late bloomer. He didn’t winhis first ATP tournament until 2011,beating Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in thefinal at Eastbourne.

It was a day of breakthroughs forSeppi, who also became the first Italianto win an ATP tournament on grass.

Seppi and partner Flavia Pennettahave the chance to notch another first fortheir country, hoping to help guide theItalians to a first Hopman title from eightattempts.

Paolo Cane and Laura Golarsa did bestfor Italy when they reached thequarterfinals at the second Hopman Cupin the summer of 1989-90.

Like Seppi, Pennetta is accustomed toleading the way for her country.

The 31-year-old became Italy’s first top10 female singles player in August 2009and the first Italian player to be rankedNo.1 in doubles in February 2011.

Pennetta reached her first grand slam

singles semifinal at this year’s US Open,defeating higher-ranked opponents SaraErrani, Svetlana Kuznetsova, SimonaHalep and Roberta Vinci in the earlyrounds before succumbing to world No.2Victoria Azarenka.

Pennetta last played at the HopmanCup in 2009, the year Slovak Republicpair Dominik Hrbaty and DominikaCibulkova beat Russians Marat Safin andDinara Safina to claim the crown.

After losing to Safina (7-5 6-3) andFrenchwoman Alize Cornet (7-5 6-2),Pennetta recovered to win her last singlesmatch against Chinese Taipei’s HsiehSu-Wei (7-5 6-3).

Cornet also returns for Hopman CupXXVI but, with France and Italy indifferent groups, Pennetta is unlikely toavenge that defeat five years ago.

Late bloomer Seppi mixes his form

Andreas SeppiBorn: 21/2/1984Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 25Highest ranking: 18 (28/1/13)Career singles titles: 3Career doubles titles: 0Career prize money: $5.5m

■ Russell Reid

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A walk down memory lane

Honour roll

Emilio Sanchez

James Blake

Martina Hingis

Serena Williams

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

Roger Federer

Hopman Cup I (1989) Czechoslovakia (Helena Sukova/Miloslav Mecir) b Australia (Hana Mandlikova/Pat Cash) 2-0.

Hopman Cup II (1990) Spain (Arantxa Sanchez Vicario/Emilio Sanchez) b USA (Pam Shriver/John McEnroe) 2-1.

Hopman Cup III (1991) Yugoslavia (Monica Seles/Goran Prpic) b USA (Zina Garrison/David Wheaton) 3-0.

Hopman Cup IV (1992) Switzerland (Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere/Jakob Hlasek) b Czechoslovakia (Helena Sukova/Karel Novacek) 2-1.

Hopman Cup V (1993) Germany (Steffi Graf/Michael Stich) b Spain (Arantxa Sanchez/Emilio Sanchez) 2-1.

Hopman Cup VI (1994) Czech Republic (Jana Novotna/Petr Korda) b Germany (Anke Huber/Bernd Karbacher) 2-1.

Hopman Cup VII (1995) Germany (Anke Huber/Boris Becker) b Ukraine (Natalia Medvedeva/Andrei Medvedev) 3-0.

Hopman Cup VIII (1996) Croatia (Iva Majoli/Goran Ivanisevic) b Switzerland (Martina Hingis/Marc Rosset) 2-1.

Hopman Cup IX (1997) USA (Chanda Rubin/Justin Gimelstob) b South Africa (Amanda Coetzer/Wayne Ferreira) 2-1.

Hopman Cup X (1998) Slovak Republic (Karina Habsudova/Karol Kucera) b France (Mary Pierce/Guy Forget) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XI (1999) Australia (Jelena Dokic/Mark Philippoussis) b Sweden (Asa Carlsson/Jonas Bjorkman) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XII (2000) South Africa (Amanda Coetzer/Wayne Ferreira) b Thailand (Tamarine Tanasugarn/Paradorn Schrichaphan) 3-0.

Hopman Cup XIII (2001) Switzerland (Martina Hingis/Roger Federer) b USA (Monica Seles/Jan Michael Gambill) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XIV (2002) Spain (Arantxa Sanchez/Tommy Robredo) b USA (Monica Seles/Jan Michael Gambill) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XV (2003) USA (Serena Williams/James Blake) b Australia (Alicia Molik/Lleyton Hewitt) 3-0.

Hopman Cup XVI (2004) USA (Lindsay Davenport/James Blake) b Slovak Republic (Daniela Hantuchova/Karol Kucera) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XVII (2005) Slovak Republic (Daniela Hantuchova/Dominik Hrbaty) b Argentina (Gisela Dulko/Guillermo Coria) 3-0.

Hopman Cup XVIII (2006) USA (Lisa Raymond/Taylor Dent) b Netherlands (Michaella Krajicek/Peter Wessels) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XIX (2007) Russia (Nadia Petrova/Dmitry Tursunov) b Spain (Tommy Robredo/Anabel Medina-Garrigues) 2-0.

Hopman Cup XX (2008) USA (Serena Williams/Mardy Fish) b Serbia (Jelena Jankovic/Novak Djokovic) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XXI (2009) Slovak Republic (Dominika Cibulkova/Dominik Hrbaty) b Russia (Dinara Safi na/Marat Safi n) 2-0.

Hopman Cup XXII (2010) Spain (Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez/Tommy Robredo) b Great Britain (Laura Robson/Andy Murray) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XXIII (2011) USA (Bethanie Mattek-Sands/John Isner) b Belgium (Justine Henin/Ruben Bemelmans) 2-1.

Hopman Cup XXIV (2012) Czech Republic (Petra Kvitova/Tomas Berdych) b France (Marion Bartoli/Richard Gasquet) 2-0.

Hopman Cup XXV (2013) Spain (Anabel Medina Garrigues/Fernando Verdasco) b Serbia (Ana Ivanovic/Novak Djokovic) 2-1.

Thursday, December 19, 2013HOPMAN CUP XXVI

Anabel Medina Garrigues

Born: 31/7/1982Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 100Highest ranking: 16 (4/5/09)Career singles titles: 11Career doubles titles: 21Career prize money: $5.3m

Tommy RobredoBorn: 1/5/1982Plays: Right-handedCurrent ranking: 18Highest ranking: 5 (28/8/06)Career singles titles: 12Career doubles titles: 5Career prize money: $10.5m

Robredo

Medina Garrigues

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The form of Anabel Medina Garrigueswill be a key in Spain’s title defence atthe Hopman Cup.

Wily Medina Garrigues was theheroine when Spain beat red-hotfavourites Serbia to claim the 25thchapter of Perth’s $1 million ITF mixedteams event last January.

Medina Garrigues won a gruelling 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 rubber lasting two hoursand 39 minutes against Ana Ivanovic tokeep her country’s title hopes alive beforeteaming with Fernando Verdasco toclaim the deciding doubles 6-4 7-5.

Left-hander Verdasco had battledbravely against Novak Djokovic beforebeing beaten 6-3 7-5 by the world No.1.

It wasn’t the first time MedinaGarrigues had rescued her country atPerth Arena.

The 31-year-old also won singlesmatches against Chanelle Scheepers andMathilde Johansson to keep ties aliveagainst South Africa and France afterVerdasco lost to Kevin Anderson andJo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Verdasco conceded after the final thathis partner had done the lion’s share ofthe work in the title win and offeredMedina Garrigues his silver and 18-caratgold diamond encrusted tennis ball.

“Because I think you won both balls, Ineed to give you my ball,” Verdasco saidafter their triumph against Ivanovic andDjokovic.

“She won almost all her matches insingles and all the doubles. So you arethe winner and I don’t know whatI’m doing here.”

Making her feats at Hopman CupXXV all the more remarkable,Medina Garrigues revealed she hadbattled a back injury before thetournament.

If not for her physiotherapist,Medina Garrigues could have joined

the event’s casualty list. West AustralianCasey Dellacqua pulled out before thetournament with a foot injury andGermany’s Andrea Petkovic (knee) andTommy Haas (toe), the USA’s John Isner(knee) and Frenchman Tsonga(hamstring) all withdrew during theweek.

Medina Garrigues is an accomplishedsingles player but her strength is indoubles, having teamed withcountrywoman Virginia Ruano Pascualto win the 2008 and 2009 French Opendoubles crowns.

Playing with a different partner inTommy Robredo in Perth this summer,Medina Garrigues will need to reproducethat form if Spain are to be genuinecontenders.

Robredo is attempting to become thefirst player to win three Hopman titlesafter teaming with wily veteran ArantxaSanchez to win in 2002 and Maria JoseMartinez Sanchez in 2010.

Robredo and Medina Garrigues’experience will be crucial as Spainattempt to win a fifth Hopman Cup.

Only USA (six titles) have won more,while the Slovak Republic have wonthree.

Robredo, also 31, has been a regular inSpanish Davis Cup teams and the top 20in his 15 years on the world tour, reachinga career-high No.5 in August 2006.

A serious leg injury caused Robredo’sranking to plummet to 471 in May lastyear, but the Spaniard improved thatmark by 453 places to 18 before the end of

2013.Spain have surprisingly been

seeded eighth of the eightcompeting nations at the 26thchapter of Perth’smixed teams

event.

Heroine returnsfor more glory■ Russell Reid

JOIN SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS AND

DORA THE EXPLORER AT KIDS TENNIS DAY

PRESENTED BY NICKELODEON!

Head down to Perth Arena on Saturday 28

December to purchase your adult tickets from

the box office, and bring the kids and grandkids

along for free!*

For more info on Kids Tennis Day visit

hopmancup.com/kidstennisday

*Applies to children 16 years of age and under. Free Junior available in

Silver Reserved Seating ticket – day session only. Subject to availability.

PERTH ARENA hopmancup.com

28 DEC 2013

KIDS TENNIS DAY