Tennis: Federer, Bencic fire as Switzerland reach Hopman Cup final

Reuters , Thursday 4 Jan 2018

Roger Federer of Switzerland
Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return against Jack Sock of the US during their tenth session men's singles match on day six of the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth on January 4, 2018 (AFP)

Roger Federer overcame Jack Sock while Belinda Bencic battled past CoCo Vandeweghe to help Switzerland score a 3-0 victory over the United States and book a place in the final of the Hopman Cup on Thursday.

Federer stepped up his preparation for the Australian Open with a 7-6(5) 7-5 win in an absorbing match to give his side a 1-0 lead in front of a record Perth Arena crowd of 14,029.

The 19-times grand slam champion opened up a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker of an evenly-matched first set but Sock levelled at 4-4 with a flurry of powerful drives. Federer then took control, producing a neat backhand volley to close out the first set.

The second set went with serve up to 4-4 before Sock missed an opportunity to break. The American world number eight then double-faulted at 5-5 as Federer pounced to snatch a decisive break and went on to seal the win.

"I've maintained a high level in all three matches, which is a great thing," Federer said after the match.

"This was another step up in terms of ranking and I thought it was a very entertaining match for both of us... I thought it was a good step forward."

Bencic secured the victory for Switzerland with a 7-6(6) 6-4 win over Vandeweghe. Federer and Bencic then won the dead mixed doubles rubber 4-3(3) 4-2.

Group B winners Switzerland will face the winner of Group A in Saturday's final, with Germany, Belgium and Australia all capable of sealing top spot.

Earlier, Naomi Osaka ground out a 6-4 3-6 7-6(5) win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but Japan failed to capitalize on the early advantage as they lost 2-1 to Russia.

Karen Khachanov thumped Yuichi Sugita 6-4 6-2 before teaming up with Pavlyuchenkova to beat the pair of Sugita and Osaka 4-1 4-0 in the mixed doubles rubber.

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