Angelique Kerber Dispatches Garbine Muguruza- Hopman Cup

It was the battle of two former world number ones and it was Angelique Kerber who came out on top at the Mastercard Hopman Cup. Kerber remains unbeaten in singles at the Hopman Cup, as she came through a stern test in the form of Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, in three sets 6-2 3-6 6-3 to help her nation with a valuable first point.

The match in itself was a high-quality contest which panned out to over two hours in the RAC Arena. After winning a tense opening set, Kerber’s unforced errors started creeping into her game, and Garbine Muguruza pounced on those, securing a break in the eighth game of the second set. However Kerber did not let her past losses to Muguruza hinder her in finding a way to claim the third set and hence the match.

“You know that you know that you have to play good tennis”, said the German. “I was just trying to have a good match, try to enjoy the first match of the year for me,” said Angelique Kerber, who will later play mixed doubles alongside the youngster Alexander Zverev. “It’s always tough if you play against another Grand Slam champion so that’s why I’m really happy with how I played today”, said Kerber.

The world number four on the ATP single rankings, Alexander Zverev will look to begin his 2019 campaign with a win against the veteran David Ferrer, who has announced his retirement this season, in the men’s singles rubber, later today.

Germany is also scheduled to face France on Wednesday as well as Australia on Friday night. France will be represented by Alize Cornet and Lucas Pouille, while Australia will have Ashleigh Barty, who has had a terrific 2018 season, and Matt Ebden, representing their nation. Meanwhile in Group B, Greece as already been surprised by the Great Britain, winning the tie 2-1, while Switzerland face-off against USA later today.