Hopman Cup 2018: Roger Federer Helps Switzerland Beat Japan in Saturday Matches

Roger Federer kickstarted the new tennis season by helping Switzerland to a 3-0 win over Japan in the Hopman Cup on Saturday.

He coasted past Yuichi Sugita in his singles match before his team-mate Belinda Bencic followed suit against Naomi Osaka, giving the Swiss an unassailable two-point lead. They clinched a whitewash with a narrow win in the doubles.

Earlier in the day, the United States picked up a 2-1 victory over Russia, with Jack Sock and Coco Vandeweghe winning their singles matches to secure the win.

Read on for the results from Perth, Australia, a look ahead to Sunday's schedule and a recap of how Day 1 played out.

Saturday Results

United States 2-1 Russia

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-3, 6-3

Jack Sock (USA) bt. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

Pavlyuchenkova and Khachanov (RUS) bt. Vandeweghe and Sock (USA) 3-4(3), 4-1, 4-2

Switzerland 3-0 Japan

Roger Federer (SUI) bt. Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 6-4, 6-3

Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7-5, 6-3

Federer and Bencic (SUI) bt. Sugita and Osaka (JPN) 2-4, 4-1, 4-3(1)

Sunday Schedule

Australia (Daria Gavrilova and Thanasi Kokkinakis) vs. Canada (Eugenie Bouchard and Vasek Pospisil)

Saturday Recap

There were plenty in attendance excited to see Federer at the season-starting event, while WTA star Kristina Mladenovic was glued to the action at home:

The Swiss started serenely against Sugita, ensuring his serve was strong and creating chances against his opponent's. In the fifth game, he broke and went on to wrap up the opener 6-4.

Federer produced a similarly clinical performance in the second set, this time getting the vital break in the third game and consolidating. Eventually he was far too strong for the Japanese and coasted to a 6-3 second-set win and the match.

As we can see courtesy of Eurosport UK, there was at least one moment of consolation for Sugita in this one:

Here's what Federer had to say after the match:

After the win for Federer, Bencic did her part, battling to a two-set win over Osaka to ensure the victory was safe for Switzerland. The duo then combined to win the doubles in a deciding tiebreak and get their campaign off to the best possible start.

The United States and Russia got the competition underway on Saturday, with Vandeweghe in action against Pavlyuchenkova first up.

TONY ASHBY/Getty Images

As the top seeds for the tournament, Vandeweghe would have been keen to get her country off to a flier here, and she did exactly that with a routine first-set win. The second followed the same pattern, with the U.S. Open semi-finalist showing too much class.

Afterward, she commented on the scorching conditions Down Under, per 7Tennis:

Sock was the heavy favourite in his showdown with Karen Khachanov, although it was clear from the first set he was not going to have things his own way despite winning it 6-4.

The Russian rallied in the second stanza in some style, coasting to a 6-1 win to set up a decider. In the end, the world No. 8 was triggered into life and delighted the fans:

With the match won, the doubles tussle between the two sides proved to be redundant, although it was still enough to please the crowd.

The Russian duo will take some confidence from it too, as they recovered from a set down to eventually get a point on the board.