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Hopman Cup 2009

29K views 269 replies 69 participants last post by  programad 
#1 ·
is there any team news??? Im hoping Anne and Andy will play together :bounce:
 
#2 ·
^^^^
No news on any teams at the moment bar the Australian team - Hewitt and Dellacqua :). Oh and Safin and Safina have committed for Russia (I'm pretty sure)

But it would be awesome to see a British team, I like watching Murray play and they could be in with a shot if Anne kept her form of the past 6 months up :)
 
#6 ·
I'd like to see

Russia - Safina and Safin (guaranteed)
Australia - Dellacqua and Hewitt (guaranteed)
-----------------------------------------------
USA - S/V. Williams and Blake
Great Britain - Anne Keothavong and Andy Murray

And I'm assuming the usuals will come
Czech Republic - Lucia Safarova and Tomas Berdych (or maybe that other couple :tape:)
India - Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna :yawn: :zzz:
Argentina - Gisela Dulko and Juan Ignacio Chela/Juan Martin del Potro?
And maybe...
Japan - Ayumi Morita and Kei Nikishori
 
#7 ·
I would like to see
Aus
Russia
-------
U.S.A: Serena with James
Switzerland: Patty with Wawrinka
Serbia: Djokovic with Jankovic
Japan: Sugiyama with Nishikori
Spain: Medina Gurrigues and Ferrer
France: Golovin with Gasquet
 
#8 ·
So there's

Australia (Dellacqua/Hewitt)
Russia (Safina/Safin)

--
and I hope
--

France (Golovin/Gasquet)
Switzerland (Hingis (oh yes, that's right - comeback :drool:)/Wawrinka)
Serbia (Dokic :sobbing:/Troicki)
USA (Venus/Serena)
Russia II (Kirilenko/Tursunov)
Argentina (Dulko, Del Potro)
Spain (Suarez Chomper Navarro/Nadal)

:shrug: That looks fine.
 
#17 ·
What's wrong with inviting Gilles Simon and Alize Cornet??? They have both certainly earned their invitations this year! Both are Top 20. Both are young and new faces.

Novak Djokovic was released from his commitment contract to the HC because both Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic were committed elsewhere. So he wanted to play, at least.

The HC has been forever attempting to bring back Roger Federer, especially since the tournament is turning 21! They are still trying to convince Patty Schnyder to play.

I have been waiting for a Marat and Dinara combination ever since she burst onto the scene. I'm glad they waited until Dinara matured as a player instead of rushing her in for the sensation factor.

Japan could be interesting with Ai Sugiyama and Kei Nishikori. Without Sugiyama, they will be invited to play the Asian Hopman Cup instead. Not that she's a huge international star or anything, just that Ayumi Morita (or whoever they choose) won't be enough to justify a main draw inclusion.

Andy Murray will most likely commit to Doha seeing as how he is the defending champion there. So the chances of Great Britain participating are slim.

The American team could be very strong this year. The HC will no doubt try to convince James Blake to return. If Serena plays too, then watch out. Or maybe Venus will play with Mardy Fish instead this year. How cool would it be to have Bethanie Mattek? haha

I can't see India taking part without Sania Mirza, and right now, she's too risky of an investment with her injury.

If the Czechs come back, it won't be with Lucie Safarova. She has been in terrible form this year, especially with injuries. Having said that, Nicole Vaidisova hasn't performed that much better either, but she is at least Top 30. Berdych probably won't play without Safarova, so it looks like Radek Stepanek is the next option.

Perhaps Spain are due for a return appearance? Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo again? Or maybe David Ferrer? A bit of a long shot would be Rafa.

Argentina are the best South American nation, and Juan Martin Del Potro has been playing exceptionally well in 2008, so he might be a possibility. The best Argentine female has been Gisela Dulko so she's in the mix as well.

Sweden? Belgium? Canada? Romania? Italy? Austria? I can't think of too many other possible countries that have both a top male and top female players. It's a shame that countries like China, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Denmark and Hungary don't have any top 100-ranked male players. It would be awesome to watch players like Li Na, Zheng Jie, Agnieszka Radwanska, Victoria Azarenka, Alona Bondarenko, Caroline Wozniacki or Agnes Szavay compete.

Then there's the Asian HC! I expect the top 6 combinations from China, Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Japan, India, Korea or Philippines to be somewhere in there.
 
#28 ·
I actually think a Chinese Taipei team would be good, the crowd seems to like them (after all, Asians are cute :rolleyes: ) ... and they seem to play well and really get into it. Lu from Chinese Taipei with top doubles player Chan would be a good combo, although a bit lacking in power.

Dulko has indeed played too many hopman cups for my liking, she is a good player... but the Argentinian teams would not interest me too much, so I agree with you guys..time for Dulko to move on... but hey, as long as they keep taking her. It was like Asa Carlsson back in the day, they took her everyear, she lost every year and all her matches were kind of boring.. but it was just somebody to fill the gap next to the top swedish male player at the time.

I personally am up for a Tanasugarn/Udomchoke combo... Perth went crazy for Tammy the year they made the finals, they loved Paradorn also.
 
#29 ·
GERMANY is the fourth country confirmed for January's Hopman Cup in Perth, with former world No.4 Nicolas Kiefer set to partner rising star Sabine Lisicki.

Kiefer, currently ranked 25 in the world, recently knocked over top-10 players James Blake and Nikolay Davydenko at the Canadian Masters Series.

He also beat Frenchman Gilles Simon and Mardy Fish en route to the final, which he lost to world No.1 Rafael Nadal.

Lisicki, 19, has surged up the rankings to 64 this year and showed her potential at the Australian Open, where she defeated then world No.16 Dinara Safina, who has since climbed to third in the rankings.

Germany joins France (Alize Cornet and Simon), Australia (Casey Dellacqua and Lleyton Hewitt) and Russia (Safina and Marat Safin) in the eight nation field.

The tournament takes place from January 3-9.
 
#30 ·
Australia, Russia, France, Germany....these are veteran nations in tennis. Interesting ;)
 
#31 ·
I have a strong feeling that Dulko will be back, simply because inviting Del Potro to play for Argentina will be too hard for McNamee to resist. Gisela is the only Argentinean woman to have a ranking high enough to justify being entered into an invitational tournament.

I don't really want to see Taiwan playing again, although they did do a good job last year. That's just my personal preference, I didn't really enjoy watching either player.

I really feel that Japan will be invited without having to play Asian HC. Nishikori gained some public interest at the USO and if McNamee can secure Sugiyama or even Morita, then that's a pretty decent team, especially if it's Ai.

I don't want to see Czech Republic competing again, at least not with Berdych/Safarova. They've come 2 years in a row and they haven't really impressed too much.

India have had their run too. Mirza is a star but not right now, and it's silly to invite them if they don't have a decent enough male player for singles. They can play Asian HC.

If the HC got Federer to play, the organisers and presenters would go insane. Schnyder/Federer would be an alright team. Or even a young Swiss girl with Federer. It wouldn't really matter, if McNamee somehow got Roger to agree to play, he'd grab a Swiss tourist visiting Perth to play if he had to.
 
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