Kerber und Zverev - a miss is as good as a mile
Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev - Creative Commons photo 1 Carine06 and photo 2 Keith Allison Yes, the Hopman Cup. This tournament is one of the first major events of the tennis season and is considered as important as the Davis Cup for men or the Fed Cup for women. The Hopman Cup too is played on a country-by-country basis but by mixed-gender teams and beside the two singles there is also a mixed competition, which often stands particularly in the spotlight. And that's exactly why the two German participants Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev had set themselves a particularly ambitious target for yesterday's final. They didn't meet just any opponents, but the Swiss Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer, against whom they had lost in the same place a year ago. And for this defeat they eagerly and with all their strength sought to return the favor and finally bring the Hopman Cup back to Germany after 24 long years. In 1995, Boris Becker and Anke Huber last managed to do that, a success that even for me seems to have been an eternity ago. And now it was again Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev, who have planned a lot for this year and now had the opportunity of a perfect start into this tennis season in the finals of the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. But of course, things turned out quite differently. Even though Kerber could win her singles after two hard-fought sets against Bencic with 6:7 and 7:6 and brought Team Germany into the lead, but the German talent Zverev, who surprisingly won the ATP Finals last year, did not really have a chance against Federer, third in the world rankings, and lost with 4:6 and 2:6. This may happen, just bad if it happens in such an important final match. In the final mixed game between all 4 players, the first set clearly went to the Swiss but the Germans could fight back in the second set and equalize. In the tiebreak in the third set Kerber and Zverev even missed a match ball, which of course players like Bencic and Federer wouldn't pass up and they Swiss finally decided the thrilling final in their favour. From the perspective of the two Germans, the final score was 0:4, 4:1, 3:4. Unfortunately, another final defeat yet not really a reason to be ashamed. Especially in the mixed game the two of them stood the pace and against Federer even Zverev might lose. The Swiss is just a class of his own and even with his 37 years still one of the best players in the world. Roger Federer Creative Commons photo si.robi Congratulations to the two winners but also to the runners-up. The tennis season has just begun and the two Germans are already in good shape, that's where they have to build up now. The upcoming Australia Open is the first very big highlight of this year, let's see if Kerber and Zverev can live up to their great victories from last year. Kerber could already win this first Grand Slam tournament of the season in Melborne 3 years ago, maybe she even manages to repeat this success in a few weeks. 2019 is still fresh and steaming, but I am sure that this year will be exciting and full of highlights. Together with the players and everyone involved, let's look forward to a lot of great matches.
Kerber und Zverev - a miss is as good as a mile
Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev - Creative Commons photo 1 Carine06 and photo 2 Keith Allison Yes, the Hopman Cup. This tournament is one of the first major events of the tennis season and is considered as important as the Davis Cup for men or the Fed Cup for women. The Hopman Cup too is played on a country-by-country basis but by mixed-gender teams and beside the two singles there is also a mixed competition, which often stands particularly in the spotlight. And that's exactly why the two German participants Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev had set themselves a particularly ambitious target for yesterday's final. They didn't meet just any opponents, but the Swiss Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer, against whom they had lost in the same place a year ago. And for this defeat they eagerly and with all their strength sought to return the favor and finally bring the Hopman Cup back to Germany after 24 long years. In 1995, Boris Becker and Anke Huber last managed to do that, a success that even for me seems to have been an eternity ago. And now it was again Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev, who have planned a lot for this year and now had the opportunity of a perfect start into this tennis season in the finals of the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. But of course, things turned out quite differently. Even though Kerber could win her singles after two hard-fought sets against Bencic with 6:7 and 7:6 and brought Team Germany into the lead, but the German talent Zverev, who surprisingly won the ATP Finals last year, did not really have a chance against Federer, third in the world rankings, and lost with 4:6 and 2:6. This may happen, just bad if it happens in such an important final match. In the final mixed game between all 4 players, the first set clearly went to the Swiss but the Germans could fight back in the second set and equalize. In the tiebreak in the third set Kerber and Zverev even missed a match ball, which of course players like Bencic and Federer wouldn't pass up and they Swiss finally decided the thrilling final in their favour. From the perspective of the two Germans, the final score was 0:4, 4:1, 3:4. Unfortunately, another final defeat yet not really a reason to be ashamed. Especially in the mixed game the two of them stood the pace and against Federer even Zverev might lose. The Swiss is just a class of his own and even with his 37 years still one of the best players in the world. Roger Federer Creative Commons photo si.robi Congratulations to the two winners but also to the runners-up. The tennis season has just begun and the two Germans are already in good shape, that's where they have to build up now. The upcoming Australia Open is the first very big highlight of this year, let's see if Kerber and Zverev can live up to their great victories from last year. Kerber could already win this first Grand Slam tournament of the season in Melborne 3 years ago, maybe she even manages to repeat this success in a few weeks. 2019 is still fresh and steaming, but I am sure that this year will be exciting and full of highlights. Together with the players and everyone involved, let's look forward to a lot of great matches.
Kerber und Zverev - a miss is as good as a mile
Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev - Creative Commons photo 1 Carine06 and photo 2 Keith Allison Yes, the Hopman Cup. This tournament is one of the first major events of the tennis season and is considered as important as the Davis Cup for men or the Fed Cup for women. The Hopman Cup too is played on a country-by-country basis but by mixed-gender teams and beside the two singles there is also a mixed competition, which often stands particularly in the spotlight. And that's exactly why the two German participants Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev had set themselves a particularly ambitious target for yesterday's final. They didn't meet just any opponents, but the Swiss Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer, against whom they had lost in the same place a year ago. And for this defeat they eagerly and with all their strength sought to return the favor and finally bring the Hopman Cup back to Germany after 24 long years. In 1995, Boris Becker and Anke Huber last managed to do that, a success that even for me seems to have been an eternity ago. And now it was again Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev, who have planned a lot for this year and now had the opportunity of a perfect start into this tennis season in the finals of the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. But of course, things turned out quite differently. Even though Kerber could win her singles after two hard-fought sets against Bencic with 6:7 and 7:6 and brought Team Germany into the lead, but the German talent Zverev, who surprisingly won the ATP Finals last year, did not really have a chance against Federer, third in the world rankings, and lost with 4:6 and 2:6. This may happen, just bad if it happens in such an important final match. In the final mixed game between all 4 players, the first set clearly went to the Swiss but the Germans could fight back in the second set and equalize. In the tiebreak in the third set Kerber and Zverev even missed a match ball, which of course players like Bencic and Federer wouldn't pass up and they Swiss finally decided the thrilling final in their favour. From the perspective of the two Germans, the final score was 0:4, 4:1, 3:4. Unfortunately, another final defeat yet not really a reason to be ashamed. Especially in the mixed game the two of them stood the pace and against Federer even Zverev might lose. The Swiss is just a class of his own and even with his 37 years still one of the best players in the world. Roger Federer Creative Commons photo si.robi Congratulations to the two winners but also to the runners-up. The tennis season has just begun and the two Germans are already in good shape, that's where they have to build up now. The upcoming Australia Open is the first very big highlight of this year, let's see if Kerber and Zverev can live up to their great victories from last year. Kerber could already win this first Grand Slam tournament of the season in Melborne 3 years ago, maybe she even manages to repeat this success in a few weeks. 2019 is still fresh and steaming, but I am sure that this year will be exciting and full of highlights. Together with the players and everyone involved, let's look forward to a lot of great matches.