For the first time since 2013, Germany will be returning to the Hopman Cup. Germany will be represented by two debutants to the ITF-sanctioned international team competition. The Germans will be represented by Sabine Lisicki and Alexander Zverev.
Lisicki’s 2015 Highlights
After an extremely slow start to the year for Lisicki, she picked up her play on the North American hard courts. The German, more known for her play on grass rather than hard courts, had back-to-back shocking runs at Indian Wells and Miami. The powerful German took out three seeded women en route to the semifinals. She lost to Jelena Jankovic despite winning the first set. The Lisicki magic continued at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne. She eliminated fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic and 11th-seeded Sara Errani before running into Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Just like against Jankovic, she would end up losing in three but in this bout, she won the second set by a shocking scoreline of 6-1.
Lisicki made her second semifinal of the year in Birmingham on the grass but surprisingly could not translate that into Wimbledon success as she exited in the third round. The unlikely hard court success continued for Lisicki at the US Open, her last event to date, as she nearly stunned Simona Halep in the round of 16 before losing in three.
Zverev’s 2015 Highlights
The teen sensation has spent most of his season toiling between tour-level events and the Challenger Circuit. He qualified for the Miami Masters, coming through three qualifying rounds and even won a match against Sam Groth. He picked up his first title at the Neckarcup, a Challenger event in Heilbronn, Germany. In Bastad, he made the semifinals and made an ATP 500 quarterfinal at the Citi Open. The teen looks like he will be finishing inside the top 100 to end the season which would garner him direct entry into next year's Australian Open.