HOPMAN CUP: Germany upset Australia
Perth, December 31:
Nicolas Kiefer made the most of his first career mixed double match when he combined with German teammate Anna-Lena Groenefeld on Saturday to upset the favoured Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Wayne Arthurs 4-6, 6-3 and 10-8 in the match tiebreaker in the Hopman Cup team tennis opener.
It gave Germany a 2-1 win at the indoor Burswood Dome in the eight-country, weeklong tournament.
Earlier, Kiefer beat Arthurs 6-3, 6-4 in singles to send the match to the deciding mixed doubles while Stosur beat Groenefeld 6-3, 7-5.
Russia, the United States, Sweden and Serbia and Montenegro play in Group A while Argentina, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands are in Group B. The group winners play in the final on Friday.
In the only match on Sunday, Lisa Raymond and Taylor Dent of the United States play the Serbia and Montenegro team of Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. The tournament is part of a two-week schedule of warm-up tournaments ahead of the Australian Open which begins on January 16.