Past Results - Hopman Cup IX (29th Dec 1996 - 4th Jan 1997)
The success of the round-robin competition introduced for Hopman
Cup VIII naturally led to its retention, with the chance to see teams
and their stars play three matches each instead of a knock-out system
that occasionally robbed the crowd of the big names prematurely.
With the Hopman Cup now receiving official sanction from the International
Tennis Federation, more eyes around the globe were focused on the
activities. The seedings for HCIX saw the previous year's finalists
at the top, with Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic and Iva Majoli heading
the bill as they defended their Cup, with their vanquished rivals
in Switzerland's Marc Rosset and Martina Hingis taking the No. 2
spot.
The women stole the show a little with rising young top-10 stars
Hingis minus her teeth braces and helped out with Perth's Mark Hlawaty
as her regular hitting partner — and Majoli, backed up by American
Chanda Rubin, South African Amanda Coetzer, Romania's Irina Spirlea
and France's Mary Pierce, the latter pair making their Hopman Cup
debuts and leaving a stunning impression.
Australia were first-up with Nicole Bradtke fighting hard against
Majoli in a losing cause and big-serving Mark Philippoussis notching
the week's first upset with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ivanisevic; a victory
that prompted Goran to suggest that the youngster could be top-10
in the near future. Croatia won the doubles to stay alive, 7-5 in
both sets.
The French split their singles with the United States, with Rubin
too good for Pierce, but Guy Forget winning a three-setter against
the virtually-unknown college student Justin Gimelstob, who came
in at the last minute to replace veteran American Richey Reneberg.
While no-one even had a fact-file on the 155th ranked Gimelstob,
we were soon to learn a lot more about this extroverted 19-year-old
with just six months experience as a professional tennis player to
his credit. They won a three-set doubles to have the bookmakers wondering
a little after initially quoting them as 66/1 chances.
The troubles that beset Swiss star Rosset a year earlier looked
as though they were continuing when a back injury forced him to forfeit
to Romania's Adrian Voinea after Hingis had beaten Spirlea. The Swiss
gambled on Rosset getting through the mixed and they did that, albeit
in three tough sets.
Germany had also been troubled with the late withdrawal through
injury of former world No. 1 Steffi Graf and while Petra Begerow
showed plenty of fight in a 7-5 second set, her nerves were evident
in a 6-0 debut set loss to Coetzer. Wayne Ferreira beat Bernd Karbacher
four and four and the South Africans won the mixed for a clean sweep.
Australia were back for a clash with France and though Bradtke pushed
Pierce to a tie-breaker in the first set, she was downed straight,
but the “Scud” was to continue his great form with a
similar 7-6, 6-2 scoreline against Forget. The Aussies won two tie-breakers
to claim the doubles and the 2-1 win kept their finals hopes alive.
Hingis continued her winning ways in between her roller-blading
activities around the Perth foreshore dropping three games to Coetzer,
but Rosset's back wasn't improving and he defaulted his singles at
one set all and they forfeited the doubles to give South Africa a
2-1 win.
Rubin put the United States on their way to a 2-1 win over the defending
champs Croatia as she beat Majoli in a thriller, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 and
while new chum Gimelstob lost to world No. 4 Ivanisevic, it was a
match to remember, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5. Then the unlikely American pair
took a classic three-set mixed, 7-6 in the third, nine points to
seven in the tie-breaker. There was something special about the competitiveness
of this unknown American whose name was quickly becoming easier to
remember.
Romania had a comfortable 3-0 win over Germany, but not without
some drama. The impressive Voinea was trailing Karbacher 2-6, 3-5
and saved two match points before getting off the canvas to win in
three sets. Croatia rebounded with a similar 3-0 scoreline against
France, with Forget troubled with injury this time, splitting the
webbing on his hand.
The US ended Australia's faint hopes with singles wins, with Gimelstob
and Philippoussis producing a thriller, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. The Aussies
won the mixed, but all too late as the US clinched their finals spot.
The Session 10 double-header saw South Africa and Switzerland in
with a chance of topping their group and advancing to the final.
Even Romania still had a slim chance.
The South Africans, with Ferreira determined to live up to his pre-Cup
promise to Amanda that they wouldn't be early-round disappointments,
had the advantage in matches and needed one rubber to secure their
spot. That came in the men's singles, albeit a tight 7-6, 7-6 contest
when Ferreira downed Voinea, with the first tie-breaker points going
to an enthralling 11/9. The unheralded Romanians, the 25th country
to appear at the Hopman Cup, were a chance for the final if that
score had gone the other way.
Hingis completed an unbeaten week to maintain her two-year record
of seven singles matches without a loss, but alas, the injury to
Rosset was to again thwart the Swiss in their bid for Cup glory and
though they beat Germany 3-0, the final was out of their reach.
The last-day battle for the Cup, the $30,000 Argyle Diamonds tennis
balls and $220,000 prizemoney for the winners was to see the fairytale
story of Gimelstob come to life. Plucked off a Florida beach over
the Christmas break to fill in for Reneberg, he completed a marvellous
week in a place called Perth that he had only just heard of before.
Knowing little about his partner other than she was American, he
teamed with the talented Rubin to claim the Cup 2-1, after some more-illustrious
American teams had failed in previous years.
Rubin beat Coetzer 7-5, 6-2 to remain unbeaten for the week and
though Ferreira balanced the scoreboard 6-4, 7-6, Gimelstob played
well enough to suggest that the US could claim the mixed, which they
did 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a climax that was equally enthralling as the
previous year and every bit as dramatic and magical as Gimelstob
suddenly became an American hero.
The last rubber of the week was a thriller; 107-minutes of super
tennis, with South Africa saving two match points on Ferreira's service
before the Americans gang-tackled Coetzer's next service game to
break to love and claim all the spoils.
South Africa, after four successive first-round losses, lived up
to their pre-Cup pledge to be more competitive and after losing a
quality final, they vowed that HCX would be their year.
Results
Hopman Cup IX (29 December 1996 - 4 January 1997)
Seeds:
1. Croatia: Goran Ivanisevic/lva Majoli
2. Switzerland: Marc Rosset/Martina Hingis
3. South Africa: Wayne Ferreira/Amanda Coetzer
4. France: Guy Forget/Mary Pierce
Unseeded:
Australia: Mark Philippoussis/Nicole Bradtke
Germany: Bernd Karbacher/Petra Begerow
Romania: Adrian Voinea/lrina Spirlea
USA: Justin Gimelstob/Chanda Rubin
Final:
USA defeated South Africa 2-1:
Chanda Rubin defeated Amanda Coetzer 7-5 6-2;
Wayne Ferreira defeated Justin Gimelstob 6-4 7-6(4);
Gimelstob/Rubin defeated Ferreira/Coetzer 3-6 6-2 7-5.
Group A:
Croatia defeated Australia 2-1:
Iva Majoli defeated Nicole Bradtke 6-4 6-3;
Mark Philippoussis defeated Goran Ivanisevic 6-2 6-3;
Ivanisevic/Majoli defeated Philippoussis/Bradtke 7-5 7-5.
USA defeated France 2-1:
Chanda Rubin defeated Mary Pierce 6-4 6-1;
Guy Forget defeated Justin Gimelstob 2-6 6-3 6-3;
Gimelstob/Rubin defeated Forget/Pierce 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Australia defeated France 2-1:
Mary Pierce defeated Nicole Bradtke 7-6(6) 6-1;
Mark Philippoussis defeated Guy Forget 7-6(1) 6-2;
Philippoussis/Bradtke defeated Forget/Pierce 7-6(7) 7-6(5).
USA defeated Croatia 2-1:
Chanda Rubin defeated Iva Majoli 6-3 3-6 7-6(3);
Goran Ivanisevic defeated Justin Gimelstob 7-6(4) 4-6 7-5;
Gimelstob/Rubin defeated Ivanisevic/Majoli 3-6 6-3 7-6(7).
USA defeated Australia 2-1:
Chanda Rubin defeated Nicole Bradtke 7-5 6-0;
Justin Gimelstob defeated Mark Philippoussis 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(5);
Philippoussis/Bradtke defeated Gimelstob/Rubin 6-3 7-5.
Croatia defeated France 3-0:
Iva Majoli defeated Mary Pierce 6-3 6-4;
Goran Ivanisevic defeated Guy Forget w/o;
Ivanisevic/Majoli defeated Forget Pierce w/o.
Group B:
Switzerland defeated Romania 2-1:
Martina Hingis defeated Irina Spirlea 7-5 6-2;
Adrian Voinea defeated Marc Rosset w/o;
Rosset/Hingis defeated Voinea/Spirlea 3-6 7-5 6-3.
South Africa defeated Germany 3-0:
Amanda Coetzer defeated Petra Begerow 6-0 7-5;
Wayne Ferreira defeated Bernd Karbacher 6-4 6-4;
Ferreira/Coetzer defeated Karbacher/Begerow 6-3 6-4.
South Africa defeated Switzerland 2-1:
Martina Hingis defeated Amanda Coetzer 6-1 6-2;
Wayne Ferreira defeated Marc Rosset w/o;
Ferreira/Coetzer defeated Rosset/Hingis w/o.
Romania defeated Germany 3-0:
Irina Spirlea defeated Petra Begerow 6-1 6-3;
Adrian Voinea defeated Bernd Karbacher 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2;
Voinea/Spirlea defeated Karbacher/Begerow 6-1 6-1.
South Africa defeated Romania 2-1:
Irina Spirlea defeated Amanda Coetzer 5-7 6-4 6-1;
Wayne Ferreira defeated Adrian Voinea 7-6(9) 7-6(4);
Ferreira/Coetzer defeated Voinea/Spirlea 4-6 6-1 6-4.
Switzerland defeated Germany 3-0:
Martina Hingis defeated Petra Begerow 6-1 6-1;
Marc Rosset defeated Bernd Karbacher 7-6(3) 7-6(5);
Rosset/Hingis defeated Karbacher/Begerow 7-5 6-1.
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