Hopman Cup: Murray Kicks off Season Partnering Watson in Australia

Andy Murray's aim for a successful 2015 will begin with a return to Hopman Cup action after a three year absence.

The annual Australian Open warm-up tournament, between January 4-10, will feature Murray representing Great Britain alongside Heather Watson before he begins his renewed assault on the majors.

Murray last played in the event in 2011 alongside Laura Robson, with whom he reached the final in 2010.

Having made changes to his coaching staff following an underwhelming 2014 season, Murray has retained Amelie Mauresmo as his head coach and the Hopman Cup will offer an insight into the pair’s off-season progress.

But what exactly is the Hopman Cup?

An annual tournament in Perth in early January, the Hopman Cup pits countries against each other with a male and female player making up the teams.

Eight nations are selected to compete with individuals invited to participate. The eight nations are divided into two groups of four, so each team will play the other three teams in their group in a round-robin format. The two group winners meet in the final.

A match between two teams consists of a men’s singles set, a women’s singles set and a mixed doubles set. Who’s playing? Murray and Watson, who is making her Hopman Cup debut, will represent Great Britain, who are in Group B against Australia, France and Poland.

The host nation have selected teenage sensation Nick Krygios and Casey Dellacqua, while France team up Benoit Paire and Alize Cornet and Poland bring a strong team of Jerzy Janowicz and Agnieszka Radwanska.

In Group A, the United States pairing of John Isner and Serena Williams are likely to be favourites,

Canada feature Vasek Posposil and Eugenie Bouchard while Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta represent Italy and the Czech Republic go in with a team of Adam Pavlasek and Lucie Safarova