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Yes, 2015 Is Here And So Is The Hopman Cup
76 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
The Hopman Cup is one of my favorite tournaments of the season. Seriously. I love this event and how it’s presented. This year’s star quality may be the best in Hopman history…
GROUP A
Team USA: Serena Williams & John Isner
Team Canada: Eugenie Bouchard & Vasek Pospisil
Team Czech Republic: Lucie Safarova & Adam Pavlasek
Team Italy: Flavia Pennetta & Fabio Fognini
GROUP B
Team Poland: Agnieszka Radwanska & Jerzy Janowicz
Team Australia: Casey Dellacqua & Matt Ebden (replaces the injured Kyrgios)
Team France: Alize Cornet & Benoit Paire
Team Great Britain: Heather Watson & Andy Murray
——————-
Hopman Cup 2015 provisional schedule (Australian time)
Sunday 4 January
10am Canada v Czech Republic
5.30pm Australia v Poland
Monday 5 January
10am Italy v USA
5.30pm Great Britain v France
Tuesday 6 January
10am Czech Republic v Italy
5.30pm Canada v USA
Wednesday 7 January
10am Great Britain v Poland
5.30pm Australia v France
Thursday 8 January
10am Canada v Italy
5.30pm Czech Republic v USA
Friday 9 January
10am France v Poland
5.30pm Australia v Great Britain
Saturday 10 January
3.30pm FINAL: winner Group A v winner Group B
*Schedule is provisional only and subject to change
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1 2 Next »Bryan · January 2, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Some nice talent there. Jerzy and Aga could be a powerful 1-2 if Jerzy has his head screwed on. Big if, of course. Iser and Serena could prove a more reliable combo. Glad tennis season is almost here, I’ve missed the action.
Scoop Malinowski · January 2, 2015 at 5:58 pm
Isnerena have to be the favorites, maybe heavy favorites. Serena has won this before, with Fish, I remember the victory interview, Serena gave out credit to everyone but she forget one, Mardy had to remind her, Hey what about me? Funny moment. Hopman Cup is a lot of fun and the quality of tennis is excellent, the players really want to win that little diamond ball.
Scoop Malinowski · January 2, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Rafa took a beating from Murray today. Not looking good for Rafa at all. Lopez now with Ellesse, as is Haas. Murray now wears Under Armour, no more adidas, just the shoes. Djokovic could win the grand slam this year if the breaks fall his way and he stays healthy.
Bryan · January 3, 2015 at 4:06 pm
Where’d Rafa and Murray play? Didn’t know there was any action til Jan. 4.
Lots of good action in Australia and New Zealand and China over the next week. Brisbane will get the most attention though. My girl Vika is there.
Scoop Malinowski · January 3, 2015 at 8:11 pm
Chris Clarey did a nice piece on Vika, he went to Los Angeles and got some good quotes, nice feature, did you see it Bryan? I read it from CC twitter link. She was heartbroken about Redfoo, didn’t mention La Monf her “best friend” CC tweeted me that that part got edited out. Hewitt has a tough draw in Brisbane, Groth first round, then Anderson, then Raonic if he gets that far. Hewitt lost to Anderson and Raonic last year. Tough draw for Hewitt in what could be his final Aussie summer swing.
Scoop Malinowski · January 3, 2015 at 8:12 pm
Murray beat Rafa in the exo in Muabadala or something. Djok pulled out of the final giving exo title to Murray. Hope that Fed default in WTF does not set an ugly trend of more canceled finals.
Tennis Observer · January 4, 2015 at 9:07 am
Too bad that inot the famous Robson–Murray duo represent Britain, the Great.
Scoop Malinowski · January 4, 2015 at 9:31 am
Yes I remember that final Murray and Robson were beating Spain in the mixed last match but lost it. Murray could have clinched it by beating Robredo but lost that match from a set up. Robredo played lights out tennis. Robson put GB up by beating the lefty Sanchez who had been undefeated all week in Perth. BTW Bryan, here is the link for Clarey’s Vika excellent piece. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/sports/tennis/victoria-azarenka-aims-to-return-to-tenniss-ruling-class.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
Scoop Malinowski · January 5, 2015 at 7:18 am
Bouchard got blasted by Safarova 60 64. That big ol X is on her back now, everybody wants to beat the glamour girl getting all the attention. Safarova is a favorite to win Aus Open. she had MPs vs. eventual champ Li Na last year. Safarova has to be believing she can win the Australian Open. The belief has to be there. Tough loss for Bouchard.
Dan markowitz · January 5, 2015 at 7:45 am
The fact of the matter is Bouchard went from being humble fighter to being an expectant slam winner. Her game hasn’t recovered. Safari a winning Aussie O? The odds have to be like 50 to 1.
Saw Brian Baker got yet another knee surgery to end 2014. Some people should be stopped from getting more elective surgery. He said before he just couldn’t play at an elite level. My experience with surgery is rarely does it give you the ability to perform at what tour previous best abort was. Baker should probably face facts that he had a nice little run as a pro player, but unfortunately that’s all his body allowed him.
Andrew Miller · January 5, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Baker can coach!
Love Safarova. Like Kerber chances too. In fact whole wta elite looks ready to make 2015 interesting.
Tomiv d. Querrey straights brisbane. But kudla and rhynew make the 32 draw.
Dan Markowitz · January 5, 2015 at 8:23 pm
What is wrong with QBall? You’d think like Agassi being from Las Vegas, he’d do better in Australia. Losing that badly to Tomic who looks like he’s just going to be a middling player not Harry-bad, but not the Top 10 player a lot of people projected him to be.
Nice showing for Kudla and Rhino. Oh wait, QBall lost 5 and 6 to Tomic, at least he was very competitive. Kudla’s win very impressive. Took out Troicki 2 and 4.
Scoop Malinowski · January 6, 2015 at 8:27 am
Groth KO’s Hewitt 3/2 Here are highlights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpVV281GRxo Groth looking like an outright beast, watch out for the man they call Drago. Tomic is a helluva player, he had some bad patches but when he’s at his best, he’s better than Q. Close match. Betcha B-To wants to shine in Melbourne after too many months in obscurity. We’ve seen him shine mightily in Melbourne before, watch out for the Tomic Express this month. At one time he was right in the convo with Raonic, Dimitrov and Kei. Might have to add Tomic back in there. Not a bad loss for Q-Ball. Scoreline suggests it could have gone either way.
Scoop Malinowski · January 6, 2015 at 8:28 am
Whoa Nelly, USA got blitzed by Canada in Hopman Cup, Serena loses to Bouchard and Isner popped by Pospisil.
Dan Markowitz · January 6, 2015 at 10:26 am
Big win for Groth. I love his game, the sweet one hander for a big man, the surprisingly fleet movement for a 200-pounder and of course the seismic serve. He’s also just a great mate. Would love to see Groth have breakthrough year as he’s my favorite player followed by Dustin Brown, Monfils, probably Dolgo and Kyrgios.
Scoop Malinowski · January 6, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Drago Groth is a great story, seemingly finished after a shoulder injury and years of struggle, now look at him, on the verge of becoming a star ATP player. Absolutely think it’s possible for Groth to become an impact player. SF of FO dubs last year, F at Citi Open with Paes, this win over Hewitt…watch out for Drago in 2015.
Andrew Miller · January 6, 2015 at 7:20 pm
Wow, what a win from Groth!
More from around the world, selected results.
Happy Valley Challenger, Australia
Baghdatis d. JP Smith (1st rd)
RHarrison v. Rola (2nd rd). I’d call this a must win for either guy.
Noumea Challger
JJ d. de Schepper HA! Gets Buchanan in Rd 2. Tellin ya.
Klahn vs. McGee in Rd 2
Fratangelo vs. Mannarino in Rd 2. Calling it: Mannarino.
Qatar ATP
Berrer d. Nadal in 3 sets, Rd 1.
Kavcic d. Monaco.
Djokovic d. Lajovic
Stahovsky d. Al Mutawa – Al Mutawa is a Coastal Carolina product.
Basilashvili d. Youzhny. Nice win for #171.
Chennai ATP, one of softer draws in the world. Rd. 1
Ymer d. Sjisling. Nice job from Dan’s man Ymer.
Berankis d. Vanni – Berankis is on a roll.
Brisbane ATP
Millman d. Rhyne Williams. Millman had an outstanding run in post US Open challengers – Rhyne must have hit the wall.
Steve Johnson in Rd 2. Is Steve Johnson the real U.S. #2? Gets Nishikori next – I’d think SteveJo plays him tough.
Shenzen, WTA
Kvitova seems to be mowing players over here.
Zvonareva in rd 2 – nice to see her back.
Brisbane WTA
Sharapova is being Kvitova of Shenzen, here.
Auckland WTA
Hantuchova d. Errani! The Carlos Rodriguez effect is working.
All in all some interesting results out there. Kudla ran out of steam in his match vs. Nieminen; Klahn destroyed more or less Austin Krajicek (who I thought was making some progress in the rankings). U.S. women in Lepchenko with a nice win (defeated Madison Keyes).
What do fans see in Madison? I can’t ever tell. Sadly I will say that Madison is someone whose name I like a lot but I am not enthusiastic about her game. Reminds me of her new coach’s game, power-house Lindsay Davenport, prior to Lindsay’s breakthrough.
Scoop Malinowski · January 6, 2015 at 8:59 pm
Keys won a title on grass last year, one of the rare titles by an American not named Serena or Bryan. She’s a power baseliner with good hands, Radwanska said she sees Keys as a better US hope than Sloane because of her hands and touch. This is a big year for Keys, she has to make her breakthrough soon. Her footspeed is a problem but I saw her working hard on it last summer, hopefully she can get fleeter of foot.
Dan Markowitz · January 7, 2015 at 12:07 am
Harry won a match against an unknown So. Korean player. That’s freakin’ amazin’!
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2015 at 8:14 am
Let’s organize a parade for Harry! How about Serena getting obliterated by the Bouchard Express, she looked disinterested slow and to put it bluntly, finished. It’s a miracle she’s reached this point still as #1, the fall from grace will be sudden. No majors and a big ranking drop could be in the cards for her this year. The young lionesses are hungry now. Isner looked surprisingly ineffective losing to Pospisil too. Nice win for Tomic over Kokki, next he gets Kei.
Dan markowitz · January 7, 2015 at 2:17 pm
I heard Izzie fired Gimel’s after the match–just kidding I think.
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2015 at 4:27 pm
Didn’t see Gimelstob in Isner’s box. Isner will be 30 in April. Maybe his legs are slowing. That Mahut match was more physically demanding on Isner than any doubles player’s full season !
Dan Markowitz · January 7, 2015 at 8:58 pm
Scoop–this is big! Harry has won 2 matches in a row and took at the top seed Rola. You’re right, Harry is back! How about Kozlov playing the Futures in LA and beating the No. 7 seed, Joshua Milton, love and 1! Winston Lin, the top player at Columbia U, qualified in LA.
Scoop Malinowski · January 8, 2015 at 8:08 am
Hooray for Harry. Top 40 again or bust for Harry, make that top 25. Never count out a young American lion. Kozlov hit with Courier in Dec. in Orlando. Took a set off Verdasco in practice. Trying to line up a hit with Sampras while in LA for 3 weeks. Will play Acapulco, Delray and Hawaii Challenger, also will warm up Davis Cup team in London. Busy start of year for young Kozlov.
Dan Markowitz · January 8, 2015 at 8:50 am
Where’s Donaldson and Tiafoe? How come they’re not playing LA? Didn’t they turn pro?
Groth v Raonic in Brisbane, ooh the missiles are going to firing.
Bloody cold here in New York, in the low teens. I am off for Costa Rica in less than a week where I intend to hit some tennis balls, surf and practice yoga. I think I get back for the weekend of the Aussie O Finals.
Scoop, Cal is ready for you in Delray in February.
Scoop Malinowski · January 8, 2015 at 9:58 am
Kozlov played a practice match with Tiafoe recently and beat Tiafoe 63 63. It’s cold here in FL now too just over 40. Cant wait for Delray, will be there Monday to Friday or Sat.
Scoop Malinowski · January 8, 2015 at 10:16 am
Isnerena into Hopman Cup final. Huge accomplishment for USA tennis. Let’s hear it for USA Tennis, the tone is being set for 2015.
jg · January 8, 2015 at 4:44 pm
looks like Donaldson qualified for one of the challenger tournaments this week, but lost in the first round of the main draw. I was in Delray 2 weeks ago, love the tennis center, and the clay court tennis center in Boca as well, puts the DC public (and private) facilities to shame–just don’t like the windy conditions.
Scoop Malinowski · January 8, 2015 at 5:53 pm
jg, it’s a fantastic facility with a lot of history. Wonderful town. Hope you can get down in Feb. so we can hit a few. Field is solid once again for Delray Beach event. Always is.
Scoop Malinowski · January 9, 2015 at 8:02 am
Lo and behold, Harrison is into the semis of the Happy Valley Challenger, won QF match 57 75 75. Put the shovels away, Harry is back. Nishikori looked devastating in dominating Tomic. Moving as well as anyone in the game today, and he can smack winners from either side at any time. I can actually see Kei as World No. 1. Groth played top 10 tennis vs. Ranoic but lost in a third set TB, though he won more total points overall than Milos. Groth is a different player now, he can be a top ten player with those weapons. Raonic looks fantastic too, such a powerful game, big serve then he has the power to end the point on the first shot. Milos returned better than Groth, that was the difference. But both look like second week contenders for Melbourne.
dan markowitz · January 9, 2015 at 9:00 am
Happy to hear Groth is playing so well, but Top 10, second week of Aussie O!? I’ve got to see that to believe it. The guy’s like 28 or so, he’s going to go from cracking the Top 100 for the first time last year to cracking the Top 10 this year? Highly unlikely, but I like your enthusiasm for my favorite player.
dan markowitz · January 9, 2015 at 9:25 am
How about Darcis, Scoop?! Took care of Manny Mannarino in straight sets and we know how tough Manny can be in the Challengers. Harry will have to beat Bagman to win that Challenger in Aussie. If he can do that, he’s back.
Scoop Malinowski · January 9, 2015 at 10:00 am
Dan, Groth is devastating right now. You gotta see his game, he is one of the best volleyers in the business. He gave Raonic life and death and Raonic is playing maybe th ebest tennis of his life right now. Groth is a new man. He just destroyed Hewitt and hewitt has been working extremely hard for this month of tennis, maybe the grand finale of his career in Australia. Good to see Darcis back in the mix, his career was in limbo after that shoulder surgery. Never forget him telling us that story at US Open last year.
Harold · January 9, 2015 at 10:32 am
Still think Isner is all about Gamesmanship? Hopman Cup took do much out of him, he pulled out of Auckland,citing ” Tiredness”. He isnt bluffing when he is doubled over, hands on kness, trying to get a second wind, after an hour of play.
Harrison back to what? Top 100, 150?
Harold · January 9, 2015 at 10:34 am
Maybe he is setting everyone up for the AussieOpen, the bigger plan of gamesmanship. All part of the bluff.
Scoop Malinowski · January 9, 2015 at 10:41 am
With Isner, Gimelstob suggested it might be more to conserve energy for Melbourne as opposed to burning fuel in Auckland as he did last year, before bombing out in first round of Aus Open. Isner has a history of playing events the week before majors and Gimelstob, as his new coach, seems to want to change that and give Isner the week off before playng a major. Gimelstob also noted that if Isner finaled in Auckland, the Aus Open plays first rounds on Mon and Tues, so the finalists next week don’t get any time off.
Andrew Miller · January 9, 2015 at 11:08 am
Aussies playing well in front of an aussie crowd? Impossible!
Andrew Miller · January 9, 2015 at 11:09 am
Kozlov could benefit from the track. Gotta be fast like Kei.
Scoop Malinowski · January 9, 2015 at 11:41 am
I will find out Andrew, what Kozlov does for speed and sprint training, or if he’s lacking in that department. I think Kei’s movement is unbelievable, maybe even a better mover than Djokovic, amazing footwork.
jg · January 9, 2015 at 5:58 pm
Watch the Groth second set against Raonic from last night, it was classic throw back tennis a la Sampras or Rafter, I was surprised Groth didn’t win the match.
Andrew Miller · January 9, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Some big playing out there. Sharapova vs Ivanovic. Venus vs Wozniaki. Halep vs Bacsinszky who upset Kvitova. Some strong u.s. play from Davis and Lepchenko ( maybe there are the true “keys” to u.s. wta success beyond the williams ). Harrison choice to do challengers vs atp qualie rounds is a good one, his confidence must be moving in the right direction.
Berdych vs Ferrer for Doha. Then in Chennai looks like Wawrinka on his way to a title.
I think non big four looking just as disruptive as last year. Wont be surprised to see another non big four player in a few slam finals.
Andrew Miller · January 9, 2015 at 8:22 pm
Scoop, on Kozlov – like his game, mentality on the court and ability to find holes to hit through. Nice way of playing.
However, best thing about U.S. junior boys tennis today – that there is plenty of competition. There are so many good juniors that it’s clear there will be a cohort – guys competing against each other for top dog, etc, which should transfer well to the challenger level first. That’s what pushed Sampras’ generation in the post-Mac era. Krickstein and Agassi began scaring players, then Chang struck first, then Sampras, then Courier, then Agassi. There wasn’t any knight in shining armor or any b.s. like that.
Roddick came about in the same way – there was Ginepri, Fish, Roddick, Dent and Blake – with Roddick emerging first, then Blake then Fish.
Isner and Querrey would have had Baker along for the ride, which would have been helpful. Didn’t quite work out that way.
DY was just a little outside of these groups – so in some ways his road has been one of the hardest. He has had to compare against the older and the younger players without quite having a group in his particular bracket.
The same thing has taken place with SteveJo, Harrison, Klahn, Kudla, Rhyne Williams, Sock etc. – Harrison had the most success first, then Kudla, then finally Steve Johnson pushed ahead and Sock, with Klahn going up and then down the rankings. That’s a good example of the cohort effect – guys are in the pack then some start breaking out of it.
For what it’s worth this is how U.S. tennis seems to work. A U.S. player won’t thrive without being pushed by other players he can compare against. I think this holds true for Australia right now with Tomic, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis – they are a small pack of younger players that have older players and legends around them, and they are fighting for their relevance, for headlines, etc.
Andrew Miller · January 9, 2015 at 8:37 pm
The Kozlov forehand is looking a little more like the Agassi forehand. I saw a December clip of his and he hit one off the front foot then one off the back foot – so I’d say he needs some footwork drilling. He took one ball – hit it pretty hard – but he was on the back foot and I think anyone who has their wits intact could then go for a drop shot, move in or start moving him around. Otherwise the stroke production off the forehand wing looks good.
I like the Kozlov backhand also – players like Donaldson and Kozlov both have a backhand. Quite an anomaly – I’m not used to seeing a decent backhand from the U.S. men’s players. Kudla has one, Kosakowski has a great one hander, Brian Baker, Mardy Fish – rare.
Lansdorp is expert here, or maybe a guy like Mayotte or someone like Baker (given he has very good footwork). Someone who gets that aspect of the game. Once he has that footwork in place (and makes it a key part of his game) he should be winning matches a little more easily on the futures and challenger circuit for now. That should line up with his goals – stay healthy, keep improving, think long term.
Andrew Miller · January 10, 2015 at 1:23 am
Fed Dimitrov. Dimitrov needs it.
Dan Markowitz · January 10, 2015 at 9:05 am
Geez, watched first set of Raonic v Nishikori last night. The level of play was sick. Raonic won in 3 breakers. He’ll probably lose to Fed today in the finals, but Raonic has gotten himself in sick shape and last night, I’ve never seen anyone–Sampras included–serve so big and right to his spots. These guys are playing at a very high level.
Scoop, I talked to Rick Macci about Kozlov and Tiafoe. He worked a little with Kozlov when he was younger at the USTA site and he thinks the guy is an extraordinary thinker out there. He’s better than Tiafoe, Macci said, and though he’s a little short and not the greatest athlete, he said, he’ll be Top 50.
Dan Markowitz · January 10, 2015 at 9:15 am
Not such a good sign for Kozzy though, lost 4 and 4 to Fritz, who’s No. 1145 in rankings. Mitchell Krueger is in LA Futures semis. He’s a bigger kid than Kozlov and might have more upside.
Scoop Malinowski · January 10, 2015 at 3:54 pm
Insiders were talking about Taylor Fritz at Herr. Kid has believers with junior circuit insiders, same thing a few years ago when Bouchard was 16, the insiders were talking about her very respectfully. While the other top juniors didn’t quite pan out. I like Kozlov a lot, see many extraordinary attributes in him, despite so called physical limitations. Haven’t seen Taylor Fritz yet. How about Jarmere Jenkins winning the Challenger dubs. A notch on the belt is a notch on the belt. .
Scoop Malinowski · January 10, 2015 at 3:56 pm
I tried to help connect Kozlov with Agassi for a hit in Vegas, the Kozlov’s are willing to fly out the hit with Agassi for just one hour, they modeled Stefan’s FH off Agassi and would like to hear his feedback. But so far no go from the Agassi camp. Trying to connect Kozlov with Sampras for a hit in LA together, via a mututal friend. Fingers crossed that these two do connect. Would be hugely inspiring for Kozlov to be with and learn some tips from Pistol Pete.
Scoop Malinowski · January 10, 2015 at 3:59 pm
Groth could have won it but he slipped down the early mini break in the match TB. His returns were not as consistent as Raonic. Also Raonic has a lot more exp in these big moments in ATP tour matches. Very very very impressed by Groth, even though he lost. Raonic is obviously playing his best tennis right now, he beat Kei, who previously dominated him. Watch out for “Drago” (Groth).
Scoop Malinowski · January 10, 2015 at 3:59 pm
Fed dominates his mirror image. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”