PERTH — Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova won singles over Ukraine to lead the Australia Green team to the Hopman Cup, the country’s first title in the mixed teams event in 17 years.
Gavrilova’s 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over Elina Svitolina gave Australia a 1-0 lead before Kyrgios clinched the title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov ahead of the mixed doubles.
Australia’s only previous Hopman Cup title came in 1999, when Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic beat the Swedish pair of Jonas Bjorkman and Asa Carlsson in the final.
The last time Australia reached the final was in 2003, when Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik were defeated 3-0 by Serena Williams and James Blake of the United States.
Kyrgios won all four of his singles matches and combined with Gavrilova for an unbeaten mixed doubles run.
After Australia’s win, Kyrgios dedicated the title to his former coach Darren Tandy, who died last month of colon cancer.
“He was a good mate of mine actually,” Kyrgios said of Tandy, who was coaching Britain’s James Ward before he died.
“I spent a lot of time with him on tour. It’s definitely a sad time. I want to honor this win to him.”
Stephens bags
Auckland title
Sloane Stephens ground down unseeded German Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-2 to win the Auckland Classic Saturday, the American ending a busy day at the office with a confidence-boosting triumph ahead of the Australian Open.
The world No. 30, a former semifinalist at Melbourne Park, secured her second WTA title, having made her long-awaited breakthrough at Washington in August.
Radwanska claims
Shenzhen Open
Agnieszka Radwanska scored a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory over Alison Riske of the United States Saturday to win the Shenzhen Open.
Radwanska served nine aces and saved both break points she faced, on way to her 18th career title.
Azarenka wins in Brisbane
Victoria Azarenka capped a resurgent week with a 6-3, 6-1 win over fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber in the Brisbane International final Saturday to claim her first title since 2013.
While many of the highly-ranked women have struggled with injuries at the start of the season, Azarenka has shown glimpses of the kind of form that helped her win back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2012 and ‘13 before injuries interrupted her next two seasons.
Roger Federer and Milos Raonic won the men’s semifinals and will meet again in the final in a reprise of the 2015 decider at the Australian Open warm-up tournament.
Defending champion Federer, who has been dealing all week with lingering flu-like symptoms, had a 6-1, 6-4 win over eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem, while Raonic beat local hope Bernard Tomic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
Federer held off Raonic in three sets here last year, earning his 1,000th career match win as he clinched the title.
Federer lost to Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in the 2014 final, his first trip to the Brisbane tournament.
Raonic stopped working with Ivan Ljubicic late last year and recently hired Carlos Moya as a coach. Ljubicic is now working as part of Federer’s team. — Agencies
