Final: Spain Win

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Andy and Laura have lost in the final of the Hopman Cup, after Spain took the decisive mixed doubles rubber 7-6, 7-5 to edge the tie 2-1 and lift the trophy.

An upset looked on the cards early after Laura dealt a shock defeat to World No. 26 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 7-6.

But the sequence of upsets didn’t end there, and despite taking the first set against Tommy Robredo 6-1, Andy fell away to lose his singles rubber in three, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Once again, Great Britain’s fortunes were to be decided by a live doubles rubber, but this time against a Spanish pair with impeccable credentials.

Ranked 20 and 6 in the world respectively, Robredo/Sanchez took a controversial first set in a tie-break in which GB had three set points of their own.

But there was some controversy after replays showed that Robredo’s racquet had gone over the net as they converted their first set point.

A single break of Laura’s serve in the latter stages of the second set proved Britain’s undoing, allowing Spain to lift the trophy.

Hopman Cup 23 may be a different story – Andy said on court afterwards that he looked forward to coming back.

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