Federer, Bencic lead Switzerland to Hopman Cup title
Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic took Switzerland to their third Hopman Cup title on Saturday as they beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-3(3) 4-2 in the deciding mixed doubles.
The title was Federer’s second at the Hopman Cup after he triumphed way back in 2001 alongside Martina Hingis, who was world number one at the time, Eurosport reported.
“She (Hingis) had a great career and to have that in a small country like Switzerland is very rare,” Federer said post-match.
“It made me also believe with hard work and dedication you get really far because I didn’t believe that much at that point when I was younger, I thought it was more all talent.”
Earlier in the day, Federer stormed back from a set down to beat Zverev 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-2 and give Switzerland a 1-0 lead before Angelique Kerber levelled up the contest, beating Bencic 6-4, 6-1 to set up the decider.
Zverev played an inspired tiebreak to assume a one-set lead, including a lob that was so special the normally unflappable Swiss fired a ball into the stands in frustration.
But the 36-year-old roared back in hugely impressive fashion to bagel the young German.
Federer’s audacious drop shot on match point to close out the encounter summed up the confidence he is oozing ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.
The Swiss is favorite to triumph at the Australian Open with a number of bookmakers with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both struggling to shake off injuries and Andy Murray having already retired with his persistent hip problem.
Swiss secret
Federer has cut down on training in his later years in an effort to stretch his career for as long as possible. Federer will turn 37 this year but has two Grand Slam titles to defend with the first coming at the Australian Open, which starts on January 15, the Express reported.
Federer, who took six months off in 2016 to deal with knee and back problems, has revealed that he has learned to box clever in training to avoid further injury.
“When you’re younger you have to put in the hours to be able to tell yourself ‘I can stay out on a court for four hours and train for 10 days straight’,” Federer said after beating Zverev.
“You have to prove it to yourself that you can do it. It’s more of a mental thing in my opinion.
“Of course, your game needs a lot of tennis and your game needs fitness so you don’t get hurt so often.
“But as you grow older, it becomes a bit more quality-orientated and not so much quantity because quantity hurts the body.
“I’ve played almost 1500 matches in my career so you have to be careful there.”
Federer is winding down his career by reducing his schedule, last year skipping the claycourt season and playing just 12 tournaments in total.
And a number of former professionals including Mats Wilander have recently backed the 36-year-old to carry on even until he’s 40, something the Swiss has said is only possible if he can balance tennis with family life.
Federer added, “It’s nice because I work parttime now: work in the morning, off in the afternoon or the other way around.
“It’s good doing that, it’s good being a husband, good being a tennis player.
“I have the best of all worlds. It’s great.” Barcelona and Liverpool have agreed a deal in principle to allow Philippe Coutinho to move to the Spanish giant for €120 million ($144 million), a report said Saturday.
Barcelona-based Sport newspaper said Coutinho would join Barca this month on a deal for five seasons, although it said the details of the deal were still to be finalized, AFP reported.
Coutinho’s departure would be a blow to Liverpool, but it would allow Barcelona to move on from the bitter experience of losing his Brazil teammate Neymar last summer to Qatar-backed Paris Saint-germain for a world record €222 million.
Coutinho’s age – he is 25 – is also attractive to Barca, whose three main stars, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta are all in their thirties.
French sport daily L’equipe reported on Saturday that Liverpool was lining up Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez to replace Coutinho, although other reports have indicated that the Merseyside club would prefer to acquire Thomas Lemar from Monaco.