SWISS FLAVOR IN HOPMAN CUP
PERTH, Australia— Roger Federer won the Hopman Cup for a record third time after defending champion Switzerland beat Germany, 2-1, on Saturday.
Switzerland took its fourth Hopman Cup title overall when Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber,, 4-0, 1-4, 4-3 (4), in the Fast4 format in the mixed doubles decider.
In the men’s singles, Federer defeated fourth-ranked Zverev, 6-4, 6-2.
Ahead of his Australian Open title defense, the 37-year-old Federer didn’t drop a set in four singles matches at the tournament, beating Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Cameron Norrie and Zverev.
“I’m happy I’m feeling this good and playing as well as I am,” Federer said. “It’s good to finish on a singles performance like this. I’m a bit surprised that the matches have gone as well as they have.”
Switzerland won the third-set tiebreaker in the mixed doubles after Zverev hit the ball into the net on the winner-takesall point. Germany had earlier wasted a championship point.
Federer’s impressive stroke play countered the power of Zverev in the singles before the Swiss earned a crucial break in the 10th game of the first set. Federer broke his German opponent early in the second set on his way to victory in 70 minutes.
Kerber leveled with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over Bencic.
Federer, a
20-time Grand
Slam champion, first won the Hopman Cup in 2001, joining forces with
Martina Hingis to beat the
United States in the final. Switzerland also won in
1992.
The
Australian
Open starts
January 14.
OSAKA OUT IN BRISBANE
NAOMI OSAKA is ranked No. 5 in the world, will enter the season-opening major as a reigning Grand Slam champion and is trying not to sulk.
A lot has happened for Osaka since she beat Serena Williams in the US Open final last September, and she’s still coming to terms with it. Mostly, it’s the expectations.
She has reached the AP semifinals or better at four of her last five tournaments but hasn’t added another title.
A 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 27-ranked Lesia Tsurenko on Saturday cost second-seeded Osaka a place in the Brisbane International final and a move up to the No. 3 world ranking— which would be a record high for a player from Japan.
“If I’m being really frank, I just feel like I had like the worst attitude today,” the 21-year-old Osaka said. “I feel like I didn’t really know how to cope with not playing well.”
She dropped two service games in the first and went down an early break in the second but had chances to get even in the sixth game, when she had two break points but committed a string of unforced errors and Tsurenko held for 4-2.
Osaka kicked the air at one point and dropped her racket to the court after missing another, before visibly questioning how she could be getting it so wrong when her forehand skewed wide on game point.
“I was sulking a little bit, and like there are moments that I tried not to do that. But then the ball wouldn’t go in, and then I would go back to being like childish and stuff,” Osaka said. “So I think like that was sort of my main problem today.
“I feel like last year I did a lot of that, and I’m trying to change it more, and I think I have—like toward the end of last year. Hopefully this isn’t like a recurring thing.”
Japanese flags were still waving in the crowd at Pat Rafter Arena for the next match, when No. 2-seeded Kei Nishikori defeated Jeremy Chardy, 6-2, 6-2, in 66 minutes.
“Felt very good physically and, tennis-wise, I think it was perfect,” Nishikori said.
He’ll play fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, a 7-6 (6), 6-2 winner over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in Sunday’s final, where he’s hoping to claim his first title since Memphis in 2016.