Heather Watson and Andy Murray put Great Britain in a good position to qualify for the Hopman Cup final following a comfortable 3-0 victory over Germany today. On a hot day in Perth, where temperatures soared to 36 degrees, both Watson and Murray registered straight sets singles wins before pairing up to beat Sabine Lisicki and Alexander Zverev in the mixed doubles. But Britain still need France pairing Kenny De Schepper and Caroline Garcia to beat the Australia Green duo of Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova to make Saturday's final.
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British number three, Naomi Broady has been knocked out of the ASB Classic in Auckland after a straight sets defeat to American Sloane Stephens. After a controversial victory against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in the previous round, the world number 122 opened up a 6-5 lead in the opening set and had two chances to win it but Stephens took it in the tie-break. The Brit, who beat former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic in the first round, came back fighting in the second and took a 2-1 lead after breaking the American in the third game. But from there Stephens showed her class by winning four straight games to lead 5-2. Broady held serve and had chances to break her opponent, however Stephens held on and completed the 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory with a cross-court backhand winner in just over an hour and a half.
The Great Britain team consisting of Andy Murray and Heather Watson today lost to the Australian pairing of Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova at the Hopman Cup, the team event which acts as a warm-up event for the Australian Open. Just as GB's first tie against France had, todays match came down to the deciding mixed doubles after Murray lost his singles match to Kyrgios before Watson levelled why defeating Gavrilova. It was Murray's first loss to the Australian, having won each of the pairs previous four matches, as he went down 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to the world number 30. Kyrgios started the better and broke the Brit in just the third game of the match and, although Murray was able to save two set points, Kyrgios claimed the first set. In the second set, Murray was broken in the first game despite having a 40-0 lead but managed to break back straight away. The former US Open and Wimbledon winner had a set point whilst 5-4 up, but Kyrgios saved it before going on to close out the match in the tie-break.
British number three Naomi Broady is through to the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand after defeating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in a match marred by controversy. Broady completed a successful comeback after loosing the first set, to win 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in just under two and a half hours. But the match will be remembered for some heated confrontations between the pair after Ostapenko appeared to throw her racquet towards a ball boy. She later claimed it slipped out of her hand, however her and Broady argued both during play and at the end of the match.
Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep have all pulled out of Australian Open warm-up events ahead of the first Grand Slam of the Season. Sharapova and Halep, both due to play at the Brisbane International withdrew before the start of play but Williams, playing for the USA at the Hopman Cup was loosing 7-5 2-1 to Australia's Jarmila Wolfe before retiring. Williams, the world number one, has seen a recurrence of the niggling knee injury that hampered her during the 2015 season. Despite playing into the second set against Wolfe in Perth, she was noticeably restricted in her movement during the match and called the trainer at 2-1 down.
World number 122, Naomi Broady today beat former world number one Ana Ivanovic, currently ranked 16, in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. The tournament, which serves as a warm-up event for many of the worlds top players before the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne, runs from 4th-16th January and contains some of the biggest names in world tennis. Broady hit 14 aces in the win, her first against a top 20 player, as she defeated the former French Open champion in one hour and 22 minutes. The Brit has tasted success in recent years, most notably reaching the second round at Wimbledon in 2014 before loosing to Caroline Wozniacki, but often seems to perform better in UK based tournaments, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come for the 25-year-old.
The Great Britain team made up of Heather Watson and Andy Murray beat France to register their first win of the 2016 Hopman Cup. Watson narrowly lost her singles match to world number 34, Caroline Garcia but the she partnered Murray to the win in the mixed doubles after he had earlier defeated Kenny De Schepper. In the first match of the day, Murray overcame De Schepper, who is currently ranked outside of the world's top 100, comfortably in straight sets (6-2 6-2) in 58 minutes. Watson, who recently announced she would be coached by Murray's mum Judy, was next on court against the French number two, Garcia.
Judy Murray will coach Heather Watson at the Australian Open this month after agreeing to a short term position in the British number two's team. The Great Britain Fed Cup captain joins Watson after she split from previous coach Diego Veronelli in December. Murray has joined the Guernsey born player for the Hopman Cup, the team competition held in Perth, in which Watson will be partnering British Men's number one Andy Murray. The tournament begins on Sunday, with GB drawn in Group B along with Australia Green (Gravilova & Kyrgios), France (Garcia & De Schepper) and Germany (Lisicki & Zverev).
Serena Williams has won the 69th singles title of her career by winning the Cincinnati Masters, beating Simona Halep in the final in one hour and nine minutes. The win moves Williams up to fifth place on the all-time list, above former Australian player Evonne Goolagong. Halep broke serve in the opening game of the match, but Wimbledon champion Williams fought back and won five games in a row to take the first set 6-3. In the second set, Halep once again threatened on the Williams serve and set up three break points in the first game.
Heather Watson has lost her opening match at the Citi Open in Washington, USA in comprehensive fashion to wildcard Louisa Chirico. In her first match since coming within two points of beating world number one and eventual Wimbledon champion, Serena Williams, at the All England Club last month, Watson could only last just over an hour as she was beaten 6-3 6-0 in the first round. Watson is bound to be disappointed with the loss to the world 128, especially given that the event is seen as a warm-up for the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year, which starts on 31st August. But it is understandable, given her lack of matches since her loss in the third-round at Wimbledon.
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