Hopman Cup 2016: Tuesday Tennis Scores, Results and Updated Schedule
The United States continued a winless start to the 2016 Hopman Cup on Tuesday after Serena Williams was forced to retire early, but Ukraine maintained their unbeaten run after defeating the Czech Republic.
Williams was a set down to Australia Gold's Jarmila Wolfe before her left knee caused her to pull out of the Group A encounter, and Lleyton Hewitt wrapped up the victory by defeating Jack Sock in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.
Alexandr Dolgopolov and Elina Svitolina made short work of Jiri Vesely and Karolina Pliskova, respectively, each defeating their foes in straight sets to ensure Ukraine made it two wins from two in their group campaign.
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Read on for a recap of Tuesday's scores, along with an updated look toward Wednesday's Hopman Cup schedule.
| Alexandr Dolgopolov | 7-5, 7-6(3) | Jiri Vesely |
| Elina Svitolina | 7-5, 6-2 | Karolina Pliskova |
| Alexandr Dolgopolov/Elina Svitolina | 3-6, 1-6 | Jiri Vesely/Karolina Pliskova |
| Jarmila Wolfe | 7-5, 2-1 (Ret.) | Serena Williams |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 7-5, 6-4 | Jack Sock |
| Lleyton Hewitt/Jarmila Wolfe | 7-6(4), 6-1 | Jack Sock/Serena Williams* |
| Caroline Garcia | 2 a.m. GMT/9 p.m. ET (Tues. 5) | Sabine Lisicki |
| Kenny de Schepper | 2 a.m. GMT/9 p.m. ET (Tues. 5) | Alexander Zverev |
| Caroline Garcia/Kenny de Schepper | 2 a.m. GMT/9 p.m. ET (Tues. 5) | Sabine Lisicki/Alexander Zverev |
| Nick Kyrgios | 9:30 a.m. GMT/4:30 a.m. ET | Andy Murray |
| Daria Gavrilova | 9:30 a.m. GMT/4:30 a.m. ET | Heather Watson |
| Nick Kyrgios/Daria Gavrilova | 9:30 a.m. GMT/4:30 a.m. ET | Andy Murray/Heather Watson |
Recap
After being replaced by Vicky Duval for Monday's meeting with Ukraine, Williams hoped her knee would be fit to take on Australia Gold's Wolfe on Tuesday, but it proved to be one step too far for the American.
It was clear Williams was unwilling to take major risks on her left side, avoiding many rapid or jerking movements, but she insisted after the defeat her knee just needs more time, per the Hopman Cup Twitter account:
World No. 105 Wolfe broke her opponent in the opening set before exchanging blows, but Williams could never edge ahead by more than a set. At 5-4 down, Wolfe launched a well-timed assault and won the last three games of the opening set, breaking Williams in the second of those following a tense, nine-point tug-of-war.
Williams retired as she trailed Wolfe 2-1 in the second, leaving it up to Sock to salvage a doubles decider for the United States, but Hewitt proved too strong for the 23-year-old. As pointed out by Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, Sock has been in lacklustre form this week:
The American started out brightly in Tuesday's first set and forced Hewitt, 11 years his senior, into an 11-point back-and-forth before losing his first serve. However, like his compatriot Wolfe, Hewitt claimed the last three games at 5-4 down to seal victory in the first.
With a wind in his sails, Hewitt again showed more endurance in the second set, sprinting to the finish line drawn at 4-4 to scrape a 6-4 triumph while losing just two serves throughout the meeting.
Duval filled in for Williams once again in the doubles collision, where Hewitt and Wolfe teamed up to seal a convincing 7-6(4), 6-1 triumph over their American guests, where the United States struggled to hit any fluid form.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dolgopolov and Svitolina stormed to straight-sets wins in their singles matchups before falling to a 6-3, 6-1 defeat in a doubles meeting with Vesely and Pliskova, but their work was already done.
World No. 41 Vesely took Dolgopolov to the wire, as the Ukrainian emerged with a 7-5, 7-6(3) victory in their head-to-head, and the Czech contender even looked like the most likely winner early on in their clash.
Dolgopolov won just four points in Vesely's opening five serves but broke his opponent at 6-5 before closing out an astutely defended opener. He then maintained that run by failing to concede a single serve in the second set, winning the final five tiebreak points in succession to round off a clean performance.
Per the Hopman Cup's official Twitter account, Dolgopolov spoke of his fitness being a key factor in sustaining these kind of standards:
Svitolina looked almost as sharp in her 7-5, 6-2 win over Pliskova, where she raced to a 3-1 lead before being broken herself to draw 3-3 in the first set. She again established a two-game lead at 5-3 before being dragged back level by her Czech opponent, eventually seeing out the remaining two games to go a set ahead.
In contrast, the second set was a far more decisive result, and her opponent appeared to run out of steam as Pliskova took just three points on Svitolina's serve before succumbing 6-2. Live Wire's Leigh Walsh tipped the Ukrainian for big things in the future:
One couldn't blame the eastern European duo for being short on motivation for their dead-rubber doubles clash, and Dolgopolov was evidently in a playful mood as his team lost 6-3, 6-1 to the Czech Republic:
Ukraine will now enjoy a day's break before resuming action against Australia Gold on Thursday with the aim of making it three wins from three in Perth.
The hosting team were glad to get their first win of the tournament on Tuesday and can draw level with Ukraine on two wins apiece if they manage to beat the European outfit on Thursday.
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