Murray sails thru Hopman Cup opener

PERTH — World No. 2 Andy Murray blew away his training court cobwebs with a season-opening demolition of Frenchman Kenny de Schepper at the mixed teams Hopman Cup Monday. Murray said his form in practice since arriving in Australia had been poor, but the dual Grand Slam winner looked in sparkling touch ahead of this month's Australian Open as he dismantled the 148th-ranked de Schepper in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, in under an hour. That gave Great Britain the early advantage in its tie with France, but the ledger was squared when Caroline Garcia overcame a gritty Heath Watson to win in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, in the women's singles. The Brits then clinched the tie in a match tiebreak in a closely-fought doubles decider, 6-2, 5-7, 10-6. Murray, 28, had barely played since guiding Great Britain to a drought-breaking Davis Cup win in November, and was pleased to have found form so quickly in the new year. "I played well and everything was working pretty good," he said. "I hadn't been playing well in practice at all, I had been really struggling.” Earlier, women's world No. 1 Serena Williams suffered an early season injury setback as she withdrew from the United States' opening tie with inflammation in her knee. Her withdrawal helped the Ukraine pairing of Elina Svitolina and Alexandr Dolgopolov record a 2-1 win over the USA. Williams was replaced by American youngster Vicky Duval, on the comeback trail after being diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and the 20-year-old was no match for the world No. 19. The first set was competitive but Svitolina cruised past the tiring Duval 6-4, 6-1. Dolgopolov then secured the tie with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over a disappointing Jack Sock. In the dead mixed doubles rubber, the US pair gained some consolation by winning 6-2, 6-3. Azarenka sets up Halep clash In Brisbane, twice Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka breezed past Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in the Brisbane International Monday to set up a second-round showdown against top seed Simona Halep. Australian Sam Stosur had a much difficult match and narrowly avoided disappointment on home turf by battling through a wrist injury to claim an opening victory. The former US Open champion recovered from 0-3 down in the final set to beat Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to start her year. Italy's Roberto Vinci, who ended Serena Williams' bid for a calendar Grand Slam in the US Open semifinals last year, beat former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Russian Maria Sharapova is the tournament draw card and she will kick off her campaign Tuesday against compatriot Ekaterina Makarova. On the men's side, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who has slumped from eighth to 28th in the rankings, started the year with a 6-3, 7-6 (10) win over fifth seed Gilles Simon of France. Kuznetsova cruises In Wellington, two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova had an easy first round win in the WTA Auckland Classic Monday when German opponent Mona Barthel retired early in the second set. Of the other seeds in action on the first day, No. 5 Sloane Stephens from the US had a comfortable win over Slovakian Polona Hercog 6-3, 6-3, while eighth seed Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium was beaten by Alexandra Dulgheru from Romania 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, 18, justified her wildcard entry to the main draw with an upset win over Johanna Larsson from Sweden 6-1 7-5. Begu wins In Shenzhen, Romanian third seed Irina-Camelia Begu dismissed Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the WTA Shenzhen Open Monday. Her compatriot Monica Niculescu, the fourth seed, lost the first set against Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova but eventually prevailed 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. But eighth seed Annika Beck of Germany fell at the first hurdle, going out to American Alison Riske, who won 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 19 minutes, by far the longest match of the day. — Agencies