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Journalism of Courage
A first-round showdown between newly-engaged tennis stars Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters will grab centre-stage in the 752,000 Hopman Cup starting here Saturday. Australian Hewitt and Belgian world No.2 Clijsters go head-to-head in doubles of the prestigious mixed team event next Wednesday, barely a fortnight after revealing plans to tie the knot.
The match is already a sell-out and will be one of the highlights of a tournament which kicks off a series of events building up to the Jan 19-Feb 1 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2004.
McNamee said the match would also be pivotal for the competition with the winning mixed doubles team likely to secure a place in the final. Clijsters is using the Hopman Cup, played on the rebound ace surface similar to that used in the Australian Open, as a springboard for the Open as she continues her quest for a first Grand Slam singles tournament win.
McNamee said it was impossible to split the top five of the eight countries in the tournament, which starts at the Burswood Dome on Saturday and includes four-seeded nations, with reigning champions the United States ranked top. 8220;I think it8217;s wide open. There is absolutely nothing between the top five teams,8221; McNamee said.
Group A consists of the US, Russia, France and the Czech Republic represented by Barbora Strycova and Jiri Novak. Group B is made up of Australia, Belgium, the Slovak Republic team of Daniela Hantuchova and Karol Kucera and either Canada or Hungary who play-off for the fourth berth on Saturday.
All matches are the best of three sets with the exception of the mixed doubles which uses a tie-break system if scores are locked. The winning teams from each group will meet in the final on January 10.
