| Hyundai Hopman Cup 2002 |
2002 Event: Spain win Hopman Cup a second time
Spain overcame the top seeds USA 2-1 in a thrilling final in the XIV Hyundai Hopman Cup.
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti joined the capacity crowds in Perth for the first time. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Tommy Robredo's victory meant that Spain joined Switzerland and Germany as the only nations to have captured the Hopman Cup twice. After winning the trophy with brother Emilio in 1990, 30-year-old Sanchez-Vicario is also the only player to have claimed the Hopman Cup twice.
Seeded third, Sanchez-Vicario and Robredo combined experience and youth to great effect. In the final, fortunes seemed to favour their American opponents at first when Monica Seles swept past Sanchez-Vicario 61 76 in a match between two former world No. 1s.
Unbeaten throughout the week, Robredo had the chance to show his mettle by levelling proceedings. Jumping nearly a hundred places in the rankings over the last twelve months to a year-end position of 30, the talented 19-year-old lived up to his billing as one of the teenagers to watch with a gutsy 63 26 76 win over the higher ranked Jan-Michael Gambill. With everything hanging on the mixed rubber, the final match proved a relatively comfortable win for Spain, with Robredo and Sanchez-Vicario coming through against Gambill and Seles 64 62.
In Group B, Spain advanced to the Hopman Cup final when Australia was forced to withdraw because world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt contracted chicken pox. USA earned their final berth with a 2-1 victory over Belgium to lead Group A.
Hyundai Hopman Cup XIV
Group A (with seedings in brackets)
(1) .USA: Jan-Michael Gambill/Monica Seles
(4) Belgium: Xavier Malisse/Kim Clijsters
France: Arnaud Clement/Virginie Razzano
Italy: Davide Sanguinetti/Francesca Schiavone
Group B (with seedings in brackets)
(2) Australia: Lleyton Hewitt/Alicia Molik
(3).Spain: Tommy Robredo/Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Argentina: Mariano Zabaleta/Paola Suarez
Switzerland: Roger Federer/Miroslava Vavrinec
Italy defeated Greece (Eleni Daniilidou and Vasilis Mazarakis) in a play-off to qualify for the final field.
Final:
Spain defeated USA 2-1: Monica Seles defeated Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 61 76; Tommy Robredo defeated Jan-Michael Gambill 63 26 76(2); Tommy Robredo/Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario defeated Jan-Michael Gambill/Monica Seles 64 62.
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