Federer nabs record third Hopman Cup title
Roger Federer won the Hopman Cup for a record third time after defending champion Switzerland beat Germany 2-1 on Saturday at Perth, Australia.
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 Federer, 37, 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.”
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.
Elsewhere: Unseeded A
Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu beat thirdseeded Su-wei Hsieh 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the final of the ASB Classic against defending champion Julia Goerges at Auckland, New Zealand. Andreescu, who had to earn a spot through qualifying, will play for a WTA Tour title after beating No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and Hsieh on her way to the final. …
U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka missed a chance to reach the Brisbane International final and move up to the No. 3 ranking after a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Lesia Tsurenko. …
Top-seeded Kevin Anderson won his sixth ATP title when he recovered from 5-2 down in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Ivo Karlovic in three tiebreaker sets in the Maharashtra Open final at Pune, India. Anderson, a Delray Beach resident, lost last year’s final against Gilles Simon but defeated the Frenchman in straight sets this time in the semifinals. …
Roberto Bautista Agut didn’t waste his win over Novak Djokovic as he won the Qatar Open by beating Tomas Berdych in three sets in the final in Doha. A day after upsetting the world No. 1, Bautista Agut held off Berdych to win his ninth ATP title.
ETC.
Horse racing: Justify
A and Accelerate never got to face off on the track. Instead, they'll vie for Horse of the Year. Justify, Accelerate and Monomoy Girl were the three finalists announced Saturday.
The top prize will be handed out at the Eclipse Awards on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park.
Justify won the Triple Crown, Accelerate won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Monomoy Girl capped her year with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Justify raced six times in his career, all in 2018, and prevailed every time before retiring in July because of issues with his left front ankle. The rest of the year belonged to Accelerate, who won his last four races. All were of the Grade 1 variety, capped by winning the Classic.
The only Triple Crown winner not to be declared Horse of the Year was Omaha, in 1935.
“I think he’s the greatest of all time,” said Mike Smith, who rode Justify to the Triple Crown.
Winter sports: Mi
A kaela Shiffrin has dom- inated the first women’s World Cup slalom of 2019 to extend her winning streak in the discipline to seven races. The American two-time overall champion built on a big first-run lead of more than a second to beat Petra Vlhova of Slovakia by 1.25 at Zagreb, Croatia.
“When I am skiing my best, it feels something like a dance,” Shiffrin said. “The rhythm is really something that I can feel helps me ski faster in every turn. There were a lot of turns that felt like this dance.”
Shiffrin can match the all-time record of eight consecutive slalom wins on Tuesday in Austria. Vreni Schneider of Switzerland set the mark in 1989 and it was repeated by Janica Kostelic of Croatia in 2001.
“I am not counting the streak,” she said. “To be at this level and always pushing to be faster and stay at the top, for sure it is difficult to keep that form or to even get better. Everybody on my team does a really good job to help me focus again, to push harder, to be more motivated, to do these things that I can stay at the top. I am not up there alone.”
Soccer: Cesc Fabre
A gas might have played his last game not only for Chelsea but also in English football after bidding the team’s fans an emotional farewell near the end of a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup.
The former Spain midfielder, who wore the captain’s armband for the game, had a penalty saved in the first half and was substituted with six minutes remaining. He waved to supporters and appeared on the verge of tears as he walked off. Fabregas has been rumored to be to French team Monaco, coached by former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry. …
Manchester United’s interim coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer collected a record-tying fifth straight win to start his tenure, with his team beating secondtier Reading 2-0 in the FA Cup third round. The other four victories came in the English Premier League. …
Tournament host United Arab Emirates needed a late penalty from a handball to salvage a 1-1 draw with Bahrain in the opening match of the Asian Cup at Abu Dhabi. Bahrain was close to taking a win at its regional rival when Mohamed Al Rohaimi scored from the center of the area in the 78th minute. But Mohamed Marhoon handled the ball in the box, sending Ahmed Khalil to snatch the equalizer. …
Dragoslav Sekularac, an attacking midfielder known to Red Star Belgrade soccer fans as the “King of dribble,” has died. He was 81.