Perth Arena
The United States are in the very tough Group A with Canada (Bouchard, Pospisil), the Czech Republic (Safarova, Pavlasek), and Italy (Pennetta, Fognini). This group is not as tough as it could be though, as players like Berdych, Rosol, Stepanek, Kvitova, Seppi, and Raonic opted out of playing this year. Another bright spot is that Serena is 16-0 against her female counterparts in this group (unless you count a walkover to Pennetta all the way back in 2005).
Serena Williams taking part in the Hopman Cup this year is clearly a big boost for the US. Having arguably the greatest woman to ever play tennis represent your nation is something Americans like to see and the rest of the world hates. Serena has won 2 Hopman Cup titles before and is looking for her third, as she returns to Perth for the first time since she won in 2008. Serena went 5-0 against Safarova, Bouchard, and Pennetta in 2014, with all 5 matches coming in August or later, including a 6-1 6-1 beat down of Bouchard at the WTA finals. The one woman that Serena may have to worry about in this tournament is Alize Cornet, who is 4-3 overall against Serena, including 3 wins in 2014. Nevertheless, Serena and her powerful game should sweep through Group A, meaning only either an Isner win in singles or a mixed doubles win will be needed in each tie.
Serena Williams celebrating her 2008 Hopman Cup win with Mardy Fish.
John Isner returns to Hopman Cup action for the third year in a row and is looking for his second title. In 2014, John only played two matches, beating Daniel Munoz-de la Nava and losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, before pulling out of his match in the third tie. His time in Group A will certainly not be as easy as Serena's as he has to face Vasek Pospisil and Fabio Fognini, as well as the 240th ranked Adam Pavlasek. John has not met any of these 3 officially since the Canada Masters in 2013, when Pospisil beat him in 3 tight sets. The small sample sizes of matchups between these players is not enough to predict what could happen in the group; however, Fognini's defensive game could cause issues for John, while Pospisil combines good movement around the court with powerful ground strokes, a tough combination for John to handle. On the other hand, you never know what you will get from Fognini, and Pospisil is coming off a poor year in 2014. Fognini does have a recent win over John in the Huan Hin Tennis Exhibition, in which John was beaten 75 64 on New Year's Eve. Hopefully John can recover from this loss, figure out what he did wrong, and turn things in his favor. John will have less stress on him in this tournament thanks to a dominant Serena being his partner, and this will allow him to win at least 2 of his 3 matches in Group A.
Group B will see Australia (Dellacqua, Ebden), France (Cornet, Paire), Great Britain (Watson, Murray), and Poland (Radwanska, Janowicz) fight for a spot in the final. While Murray is the best player in this group, he will have to carry the team and possibly feel extra stress, allowing Poland to be the favorites as they have both of their number ones playing. Radwanska is the star female of the group and should have no problems winning two matches, and possibly all 3 (Cornet presents a tough matchup for her). The Australian team would've been able to give Poland a run for their money playing in their home nation with a confident Nick Kyrgios, and a much improved Casey Dellacqua, but Kyrgios' late withdrawal leaves them hanging. At the end of the day, I expect Jerzy Janowicz to find some good form, and give Radwanska the extra boost she needs to reach the final.
John Isner celebrating his 2011 Hopman Cup win with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
With the Hopman Cup coming in the first week of the season, there are a lot of unseen variables at hand. It's a possibility that the players aren't in good form, had a bad offseason, or just aren't in their best shape yet. We saw this last year with Grzegorz Panfil beating Milos Raonic and taking a set off of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, exemplifying that anything could happen. If things go through their normal course though, expect a final matchup between the United States and Poland. Serena is 8-0 against Radwanska, only losing 1 set total, so that match could be chalked up as a win for the USA. Meanwhile, Isner has never played Janowicz, but their powerful games going up against each other should favor Isner thanks to his experience and mental strength. If the doubles rubber is necessary, again the USA should be favored thanks to the doubles prowess of Serena and the powerful serve of Isner. Expect the USA to return to the winner's circle, garnering their 7th Hopman Cup title in 19 years.
Pictures courtesy of ccnwa.com, Men's Tennis Forums, and Zimbio.
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