Spain leads US, 2-0, in Hopman Cup

PERTH, Australia – Tommy Robredo defeated John Isner, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4), on Sunday to clinch a 2-0 win for Spain over the United States at the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis tournament.

Earlier, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat American Melanie Oudin, 6-4, 6-4, to give Spain a 1-0 lead. Oudin and Isner were to take on Martinez Sanchez and Robredo in mixed doubles later Sunday.

Robredo took a 3-0 in the final set tiebreaker but Isner fought back to level it at 4-4 before Robredo won the final three points to clinch the match.

Martinez Sanchez, a serve-and-volleyer, had her service broken by Oudin, the 18-year-old US Open quarterfinalist, for the first time while serving for the match at 5-2. In the final game, the Spanish player faced two breaks points before clinching the match.

Martinez Sanchez said she was physically ill on Sunday morning with an unknown ailment.

“But now I’m much better, I have to eat and get ready for the next match,” she said. “I was winning 5-2 and you have some doubts but in the end ... I could win.”

On Monday, Britain, led by No. 4 Andy Murray, plays Kazakhstan, while Germany takes on Russia in Group B matches.

Murray will team with 15-year-old Laura Robson against the Kazakhstan pair of Andrey Golubev and Yaroslava Shvedova.

Murray has altered his Australian Open preparations this year, giving up a chance to defend his crown at Doha, Qatar in order to get used to Australian conditions before arriving in Melbourne.

The 22-year-old Murray has won the past two titles in Doha and reached the final in 2007, but has failed to make it past the Australian Open’s round of 16 in that time.

Murray felt he would harm his chances in Melbourne if he played in Doha again.

“It’s a bit to do with the heat (in Australia) but also jetlag,” Murray said on Sunday. “Because I played well in Doha I finished on Saturday night ... and didn’t arrive in Australia until Tuesday morning or late Monday evening.

“Then you only get two or three days decent practice in before the tournament. So I just wanted to get here a little bit earlier to get used to the heat, to get over the jetlag and get used to the courts because the surface is a lot different to the one in Doha.”

In Group A, Spain and Romania have 1-0 records while Australia, which lost to Romania 2-1 on Saturday, and the US are 0-1. The top teams in each group meet in next Saturday’s final.                                                        (AP)