Hopman Cup 2009

[¤º¤ Anik ¤º¤]

FORMER world No. 1 Marat Safin will join his sister, Dinara Safina, at the 2009 Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth.
With Australian pair Lleyton Hewitt and Casey Dellacqua already confirmed starters, tournament director Paul McNamee announced the Russian siblings as the second group for the tournament.

McNamee revealed he was still chasing Serbia's World No. 3, Novak Djokovic, who made it to the final last year with Jelena Jankovic before losing to US pairing Serena Williams and Mardy Fish.

Safin, one of the most colourful players in world tennis, is currently ranked No. 40 in the world but returned to form at Wimbledon where he made the semi-finals before losing to world No.1 Roger Federer.

Safina, 22, has burst into the women's top 10 after making it to the final of the French Open, where she lost to world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic.

It will be the first time the Russian siblings have teamed together.

The 21st Hopman Cup will be played at the Burswood Dome from January 3-9.

[Happiness]

Thanks for those wonderful news Anik!!! It's been years since I wanted to see those two playing there!!! ;D

[CoolGirl]

Hopman Cup

Perth, Australia


Italy’s Zurich Open finalist Flavia Pennetta will partner Simone Bolelli for Italy at this year’s Hyundai Hopman Cup.

Pennetta is joined by Italian teammate Simone Bolelli currently ranked 43 on the ATP rankings. He is having his best year on the international scene after breaking into the top 100 for the first time since 2007.

The Hyundai Hopman Cup is the Official Mixed Championship of the International Tennis Federation, and has come to be regarded as the world’s most prestigious invitational tournament.

Hyundai Hopman Cup XXI teams previously announced:


Australia: Casey Dellacqua and Lleyton Hewitt

France: Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon

Germany:Sabine Lisicki and Nicolas Kiefer

Italy: Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli

Slovak Republic: Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty

USA: Serena Williams and James Blake

Russia: Dinara Safina and Marat Safin


The 21st Hyundai Hopman Cup will be played at the Burswood Dome from 3 – 9 January 2009.

[CoolGirl]

Serena Williams to play Hopman Cup
28th October 2008, 11:30 WST

American tennis ace Serena Williams is making a return to the Perth Hopman Cup in 2009.

Tournament director Paul McNamee made the announcement this morning and said he was excited to welcome her back.

“We’re absolutely thrilled she’s a nine time grand slam singles winner and she’s won the Hopman Cup twice,” Mr McNamee said.

Williams will be partnered by James Blake.

[CoolGirl]

Big Guns Set for Hopman Cup

The United States and Russia are set for a heavyweight showdown in January's Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth with former world No. 1 Serena Williams and crowd favourite James Blake confirming their participation.

The US, a five times winner of the Hopman Cup, have been handed the top seeding but will have their work cut out to knock off second-seeded Russia, who will be represented by sibling act Marat Safin and Dinara Safina.

The two countries will meet in the final should they top their respective groups.

But Safin's participation is far from guaranteed after the two-time Grand Slam winner indicated he may take a break from the game following his 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) loss to Juan Monaco in the first round of the Paris Masters on Monday.

Hopman Cup tournament director Paul McNamee said Safin's manager told him the star Russian would announce his intentions in the first week of November.

World No. 20 Igor Andreev is on standby if Safin, whose ranking has slipped to 31, pulls out.

"Of course any tournament would miss Marat if he can't make it," McNamee said.

"But I think having a top 20 player come in like Andreev -- I wouldn't say there's any downside to the Russian team but there's only one Marat Safin, so I hope he doesn't retire because he's such a great character of the game."
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[CoolGirl]

Hyundai Hopman Cup XXI - Official Mixed Teams Competition of ITF

Date: 3-9 January 2009

Website: www.hopmancup.com.au/

Teams

Group A

USA: Serena Williams and James Blake ( 1 )

Australia: Casey Dellacqua and Lleyton Hewitt ( 4 )

Germany: Sabine Lisicki and Nicolas Kiefer ( 6 )

Slovak Republic: Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty ( 7 )




Group B

Russia: Dinara Safina and Marat Safin ( 2 )

France: Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon ( 3 )

Italy: Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli ( 5 )

Asian Hopman Cup Winner ( Thailand / Chinese Taipei / Korea / Kazakhstan / China / India )


Match Schedule



* Double-header using two courts.

[CoolGirl]

Former world No.1 Marat Safin still on Hopman Cup card
Article from: AAP

By Glen Foreman

November 22, 2008 02:44pm

HOPMAN Cup director Paul McNamee says former tennis world No.1 Marat Safin is still on the card for the Perth tournament in January.
Safin raised speculation of an intended retirement late last month when he lost in the first round of the Paris Masters to Argentina's Juan Monaco.

The fiery Russian was expected to play at the January 3-9 competition at Burswood Dome but was in doubt after he said: "I need to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without tennis (for) a couple of months."

But Mr McNamee quelled fears of a Safin no-show at a recent sponsors' tennis pro-am function.

Mr McNamee was questioned whether the Russian's management had advised Hopman Cup organisers of a withdrawal, and confirmed no communication had been received.

But the tournament director is understood to have responded with strong belief of the 28-year-old's participation at the Hopman Cup and replied that at this stage, it could be assumed Safin would come to Perth because he would have said otherwise by now.

Mr McNamee confirmed the stance to PerthNow and was quick to assure that no news was good news.

"We still haven't heard anything and hopefully that's a good thing," said Mr McNamee.

In response to Safin's announcement of a possible retirement, Mr McNamee said the Russian was still considered likely for the Perth tournament.

"It's a big thing, retiring - it's not a small decision. I know from experience with a lot of players that it's one thing to think about it but it's another thing to really do it. I'm still hopeful that he'll keep playing," Mr McNamee said previously.

"He's such a character - there's only one Marat Safin."

Mr McNamee said Russian top-20 singles player Igor Andreev had been put on standby in the event Safin did not come to Perth.

[CoolGirl]

Serena Out \ Marat Safin In
8 December 2008

PERTH. US Open winner and world number 2 Serena Williams has been forced to withdraw from the Hyundai Hopman Cup. She injured her hamstring in the year ending WTA Championships and has not been able to recover in time to prepare adequately for the Perth tournament. She still intends to play the Australian Open.

However, in a boost to the tournament, mercurial Russian star Marat Safin has shelved retirement plans and recommitted to the Hopman: “I’m pleased to confirm my participation in Hopman Cup. It will be special to play with my sister, and I hope we can challenge for the Trophy”.

Tournament Director Paul McNamee said, “Although we are disappointed about Serena not being able to make it, we are delighted Marat Safin will be here. What an outstanding combination he and his sister are”.

Two time Champion James Blake will now be partnered by Meghann Shaughnessy who last year played the first Hopman match for USA, where she defeated Sania Mirza of India. Meghann, winner of six singles and 15 doubles titles on the WTA Tour has had an injury plagued year but retains a special WTA singles ranking of 50.

USA will remain the top seeds for this year’s Hyundai Hopman Cup. Blake, a two time Hopman Champion has spent the last few years ensconced in the world’s top 10 with a career high ranking of 4. He finished the year as the world number 10. The Russian brother/sister combination of world number 3 Dinara Safina and dual Grand Slam Champion Marat Safin will fill the number 2 position and be seeded to meet the USA in the Final.

USA is the most successful nation in the 20-year history of the Hopman Cup having been victorious five times.

The French team of Gilles Simon and Alize Cornet (world ranking 16) could however be the form team after Simon’s sensational run at the ATP Masters in Shanghai where he reached the semi-finals and catapulted to a year end ranking of 7. They will open the tournament against Chinese Taipei who won the recent Asian Hopman Cup to take up the final spot in the field. France are the third seeds and Australia, with former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt and Western Australia’s Casey Dellacqua, will retain the fourth position. There will be no change to the schedule.

The Hyundai Hopman Cup XXI Teams revised field and schedule is:


Session 1
Sat 3 Jan 09
10:30am
France v Chinese Taipei

Session 2
Tennis West Family Day
Sun 4 Jan 09
10:30am
Russia v Italy

Session 3
Mon 5 Jan 09
10:30am
Australia v Germany

Session 4
Mon 5 Jan 09
6.00pm
USA v Slovak Republic

Session 5
Tue 6 Jan 09
10:30am
France v Italy

Session 6
Tue 6 Jan 09
6.00pm
Australia v Slovak Republic

Session 7
MYER Ladies Day
Wed 7 Jan 09
10:30am
USA v Germany

Session 8
Wed 7 Jan 09
6:00pm
Russia v Chinese Taipei

Session 9*
Thu 8 Jan 09
10:30am
Australia v USA (Centre Court)
Germany v Slovak Republic (Court 1)

Session 10*
Thu 8 Jan 09
6:00pm
Russia v France (Centre Court)


Italy v Chinese Taipei (Court 1)

Final
Fri 9 Jan 09
6:00pm
Winner Group A v Winner Group B


* Double header using two courts

(1) USA: Meghann Shaughnessy and James Blake
(2) Russia: Marat Safin and Dinara Safina
(3) France: Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon
(4) Australia: Casey Dellacqua and Lleyton Hewitt
(5) Italy: Simone Bolelli and Flavia Pennetta
(6) Germany: Sabine Lisicki and Nicolas Kiefer
(7) Slovak Republic: Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty
(8) Chinese Taipei: Su-Wei Hsieh and Yen-Hsun Lu

The Hyundai Hopman Cup is the Official Mixed Teams Championship of the International Tennis Federation, and has come to be regarded as the world’s most prestigious invitational tournament. It is a round robin tournament, consisting of two groups of four teams where all teams play each other once with the winners of each group progressing to the Final.

The 21st Hyundai Hopman Cup will be played at the Burswood Dome from 3 – 9 January 2009. It will be televised on ABC and Fox Sports.

[Russian Girl]

Coolgirl, thank for good news You always post fresh news Thank you once again and go on ;D!

[CoolGirl]

Posted at Marat's official forum by site admin:

" there is nothing yet about the complete plans for 2009 - I am still waiting to find out.
The same with St Anton - waiting for confirmation that he( Marat ) has actually arrived there.

At the moment lets just be thankful that he is still looking at playing even if it is in exhibition matches. There was always the chance that he would play Hopman - think they made a big offer to the two of them and also Dinara didn't want to play there with anyone other than Marat. So sister pressure was applied just a little bit I think!

Anyhow we shall see what happens and if he is already in Australia then maybe he will gravitate towards Kooyong and the Oz Open.

Hope springs eternal!

webby

[¤º¤ Anik ¤º¤]

it will be an interesting team

[sara]

safina with her brother ;;; fantastic guys

[nastya]

They'll beat everyone!

[madisone69]

matchs will be broadcast has the TV? I have look on eurosports (France) them diffuse not (sorry for my english)

[CoolGirl]

Trim Safina ready to team up with brother

PERTH - It looks like one of the most volatile pairings in mixed doubles history but rising Russian star Dinara Safina will happily bow to the experience of older brother and former world No.1 Marat Safin when they team up in the Hopman Cup, starting here Saturday.

While Safin enjoys his traditional New Year’s Eve celebrations in Moscow, a slimmed down Safina has already arrived in Perth to prepare for the unique mixed teams event and the subsequent Australian Open.

Safina wasn’t revealing exactly how much weight she had lost after a training session in sweltering heat here on Tuesday but she looked in the best condition of her career as she seeks to build on a breakthrough season this year that carried her to No.3 in the world.

And although her brother’s star appears to be on the wane just as hers climbs, his status as a dual Grand Slam winner, and more importantly an older brother, means Safina will bow to his judgement on the court in Perth.

“He is still older than me, I think he is going to be the boss on the court,” she said on Tuesday.

“It was my dream to play together with my brother one time and I always wanted to come here and play together.

“I hope it is going to be fun for us.”

Safin is known for his volatile temperament and although his sister is making a concerted effort to control her emotions on court, she said it was a shared family trait.

“I am the same, I do break them (racquets),” she said.

“We competed to see who broke more racquets last year—me or him.

“I am trying to be a bit more calm and I am working with my coach on that.”

Safina had a poor start to 2008 and was a first-round loser to Hopman Cup rival Sabine Lisicki at the Australian Open.

However, it is a different Safina almost 12 months on, winning four tournaments this year and reaching the French Open final.

“I had a good off-season and I have been practising hard,” she said.

“It is completely different coming here this year than when I came last year.

“I am really looking forward to starting the matches, that is what it is about.”

With her growing confidence and improved fitness, Safina has set her sights on lasting into the second week of the Australian Open for the first time.

She also hopes to complete a unique family double by claiming the top ranking in women’s tennis in 2009.

The Russians open their Hopman Cup campaign on Sunday against Italy, while the tournament starts with the tie between France and Asian Hopman Cup winner Chinese Taipei on Saturday.
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