2011 Hopman Cup: Andy Murray and Laura Robson lost their mixed doubles clash
Laura Robson and Andy Murray from Great Britain lost their mixed doubles match against Italy, at the 2011 Hopman Cup in Perth on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the sixteen year old Robson was beaten at the hands of French Open winner Francesca Schiavone in two sets. The final match score was 7-5, 6-3.
World number four, Andy Murray on the other hand, needed only seventy seven minutes to level the tie with a straight set win over Potito Starace. The final score line was 7-5, 6-1.
However, in their mixed match later in the day, both the players were thrashed out in three sets by Schiavone and Starace. The final match score was 6-7, 7-6, 10-2. The British tandem now has a difficult task if they want to match
their last year’s performance of reaching the final.
Andy Murray, who is playing in the event as a warm up tournament prior to the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open in Melbourne, while commenting on the loss said, "It was a very long first day of the year. It is disappointing
we did not win but hopefully we can come through in the next one."
Laura who was facing some problems due to cold conditions played some impressive tennis during the start of her match against Schiavone. The professional tennis ace from Great Britain broke to earn a lead of 5-3 in the opening
set before Schiavone completely dominated the match by winning seven games in a row to seal win in the end.
The opening set of Andy’s clash versus Starace, on the other hand, was a sea saw battle until the right hander improved his game to wrap up the opening set at 7-5. He survived an early break point during the second set before winning
next five games in a row to clinch win.
"I was breathing so hard after the first four or five games. I only arrived on Saturday afternoon so there has not been a whole lot of time to get over jet-lag yet. It is going to take some time to get used to the conditions,”
said the Scott after the match.
He along with Laura together in the mixed doubles clash later in the day won the opening set and led 4-3 in the second, however did not maintain the dominance afterwards. The Italian pair on the other hand took full advantage of
the situation and levelled the scores before eventually emerging victorious in the end.
The Brit pair made their way into the final of the Hopman Cup back in 2010.
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