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Stunner Down Under Thailand defeats Australia at Hopman Cup
Posted: Tuesday January 04, 2000 10:27 AM
PERTH, Australia (AP) -- Thailand claimed a stunning victory over defending champions Australia at the Hopman Cup on Tuesday, beating the host nation 2-1 in the mixed teams tennis tournament. Tamarine Tanasugarn outplayed 16-year-old Jelena Dokic 6-1, 6-4 to give Thailand a 1-0 lead. Mark Philippoussis then leveled the tie by beating Paradorn Srichaphan by the same score, before Thailand rallied from a set and 1-3 in the deciding doubles to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Later Tuesday, South Africa won its second consecutive match when Wayne Ferreira and Amanda Coetzer won their singles matches to clinch their encounter with Sweden. Coetzer beat Asa Carlsson 6-4, 6-0 and Ferreira downed Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-4. Tanasugarn allowed Dokic just three points on serve in the first set, and then overcame some stubborn resistance by the young Australian in the second. Both players rallied fiercely from the baseline, but Tanasugarn's power allowed her to stretch Dokic and leave her struggling to reach the ball. Dokic had a chance to get back into contention when Tanasugarn eased back in the second set after taking a 4-1 lead, but she failed to take advantage of two break points she held for 5-5 as Tanasugarn served for victory. Philippoussis, his confidence boosted by his part in Australia's recent Davis Cup victory over France, took an early lead against Srichaphan, breaking to lead 2-1 before taking the first set in just 20 minutes. But even though the Thai offered more resistance in the second set, the short rallies and errors from both players meant the contest lacked drama. Philippoussis never really took control, but he was able to break serve to love in the final game to close things out. In the doubles, Australia was let down by Dokic's serve, while Srichaphan provided the main foundation for a Thai victory. He held his serve throughout, and served his way out of trouble when facing a break point in the final game. The turning point came when Philippoussis was broken for the only time in the match to allow Thailand to level at 3-3 in the second set. "It was really incredible that we could break his serve. It was a miracle," said Tanasugarn. "This is amazing. It's the biggest victory we've had for Thailand. We had confidence that we would play our best, but not that we'd win." Thailand, which qualified for the mixed team event by beating Japan on Saturday, is hoping to repeat the success of the Slovak Republic two years ago when it won as a qualifier.
The round-robin event consists of two groups, and each team plays three times to determine who will contest Saturday's final. Group A consists of South Africa, the United States, Belgium and Sweden. Group B is made up of Australia, the Slovak Republic, Austria and Thailand.
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