Team Great Britain is headed back to the Hopman Cup. The duo of Andy Murray and Heather Watson, who played in this year’s Hopman Cup, will be returning for the Brits in Perth. Next year will be Murray’s fourth year playing in the international team event while it will be Watson’s second.
The Duo’s History At The Hopman Cup
Murray first played at the Hopman Cup in 2010. The two-time major champion went 3-0 in the group stages dropping only 10 games in three matches against Igor Andreev, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Andrey Golubev. However in the final, Murray would be defeated by Tommy Robredo in the men’s singles rubber to level the tie up at one apiece (Laura Robson defeated Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the first tie). Murray and Robson lost in two tightly contested sets to Spain as the Spanish would clinch their third title.
The world number two competed for a second consecutive year in 2011 and once again paired up with Robson. Great Britain’s fortune would not be the same as the previous year with the team going 0-3. Despite that, Murray did go 3-0 once again in the group stage but was not as convincing as he was in the previous year.
This year, the British number one paired up with Watson. Murray made it an astounding 9-0 with another stellar run in the group stages. Watson struggled against the better players on tour, Alize Cornet of France and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, but defeated Casey Dellacqua of Australia. The team went 2-1, but Poland advanced from the group after Jerzy Janowicz’s win in singles match over Benoit Paire which placed the Brits second in the group. The Brits lost on the tiebreak criteria of sets won-loss. Both teams lost seven sets, but the Poles pipped the Brits 14-12 in sets won.