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Starting things off Hopman Cup ushers in new millenium
Posted: Friday December 31, 1999 12:19 PM
PERTH, Australia (Reuters) -- The first professional tennis tournament of the new millennium, the Hopman Cup mixed team challenge, could see a rematch of last year's battling Wimbledon qualifiers, Alexandra Stevenson and Jelena Dokic. "If we get to the finals, I'd love to play her again," 45th-ranked Stevenson said. Stevenson, a last-minute replacement for Monica Seles, who withdrew from the U.S. team because of a nagging foot injury, became the first qualifier to advance to the Wimbledon semifinals after defeating Dokic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. The round robin format of the Hopman Cup starting on New Year's Day means the Australian duo of Dokic and world No. 19, Mark Philippoussis, last year's winners, would only meet Stevenson and partner James Blake if both teams reached the final on January 8. Stevenson has a big asset in her strong serve, clocked recently at 114 miles per hour in Los Angeles. Blake, a Harvard student, finished the 1999 U.S. Collegiate year ranked No. 1. The 20-year-old replaces Justin Gimelstob, who also withdrew this week because of an injury. The slapdash U.S. team will first square off against 1999 runners up Jonas Bjorkman and Asa Carlsson of Sweden. The first challengers to the Australians will be either Japan or Thailand. The 16-year-old Dokic, ranked 43 and attending high school by correspondence to concentrate on reaching the top 20 this year, dropped her father as coach in favor of tennis legend Tony Roche after the U.S. Open. So far her best ranking has been 37. Philippoussis, who returned to favor with Australian fans after leading his country to a Davis Cup victory in 1999, is frequently compared with compatriot Pat Rafter, ranked 16. Rafter continues to nurse a sore shoulder and is regarded as an unlikely singles starter at the Australian Open beginning January 17.
The Hopman Cup, one of a number of warm-up events before the first Grand Slam event of the New Year, will see the trial introduction of an automatic two-minute rest at the end of each set and the elimination of the 90 second rest period at the end of the first game of each set.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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