Poland score Hopman Cup boilover
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska and Jerzy Janowicz have claimed the Hopman Cup final after taking the deciding mixed doubles rubber against USA’s John Isner and Serena Williams in straight sets at Perth Arena.
Janowicz and Radwanska held their nerve to take the mixed clash 7-5 6-3 against Williams and Isner and notch Poland’s first title success at Perth’s unique $1 million ITF mixed teams event.
It denied Williams a third Hopman title in as many attempts and the Americans a record seventh Hopman crown.
Radwanska went one better than last summer when she and partner Grzegorz Panfil lost in the tournament decider to the French pairing of Alize Cornet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The mixed doubles rubber wasn’t without controversy, the tournament referee called to the court to resolve a dispute after Williams apparently called the chair umpire a liar in the fourth game of the second set.
Isner had levelled the Hopman Cup 27 final with a gritty win against Janowicz.
As expected breaks of serve were at a premium for two of the biggest servers in men’s tennis in Isner’s 7-6 (10) 6-4 victory.
There were no breaks of serve in regular play, with the match decided in the first set tiebreak.
Janowicz had his chances in the first set decider but came up short with double faults when serving for the set at 8-7 and then to give Isner the set.
The world No.43 had done well to that point, restricting his unforced errors to four and restricting Isner to 12 aces while firing down seven of his own.
A breakthrough win by Radwanska over world No.Williams had earlier given Poland the perfect start.
The world No.5 put her country 1-0 up with a 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-1 victory, Radwanska first win over Williams in nine attempts.
Radwanska was on top from the start of the match, racing to a 4-1 lead after breaking the American’s opening two service games.
Williams looked out of sorts early and had racked up 19 unforced errors by the end of the fifth game.
The American powerhouse had 28 unforced errors by the end of the opening set and finished with a whopping 59 for the match.
