GREAT BRITAIN are in the box seat to qualify for the Hopman Cup final from Group B after they defeated Germany before closest rivals Russia suffered a surprise defeat by Kazakhstan.
Great Britain, the number three seeds, recovered to claim a come-from-behind 2-1 win after 15-year-old Laura Robson lost the opening rubber to Sabine Lisicki 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.
Andy Murray took only 57 minutes to level the tie when he dispatched Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-1 before completing the comeback with a 6-3 6-2 win alongside his partner in the mixed doubles.
It sent the Britons top of the group with an unbeaten record from their two ties, and they had been expected to be joined by Russia when they met Kazakhstan, the lowestranked nation at the tournament, in the night session.
The number two seeds had looked to be on course when Elena Dementieva bounced back from her opening-match loss to Lisicki with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win over Yaroslava Shvedova.
But Kazakhstan, who were only narrowly beaten by Great Britain in their opener, fought back gamely, with world number 133 Andrey Golubev scoring a shock win over an out-of-sorts Igor Andreev 6-4 6-3.
The Kazakhs then completed the upset in the mixed doubles with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 win to give themselves an outside chance of reaching Saturday’s final.
But Great Britain are in control of the group as the only unbeaten team and victory in their final pool match against Russia tomorrow would send them through.
Russia know they need to win to go through while hoping surprise package Kazakhstan do not defeat winless Germany 3-0 in a tie at the same time under the Burswood Dome.
‘‘Today was very good day for me,’’ Golubev said after his side’s win.
‘‘First I had a good game in singles and then we enjoyed the doubles very much.
‘‘We have played well. We were so close to beating Great Britain so we will try to win the next match to reach the final but we know it depends on the UK.’’ Murray, meanwhile, is confident he will be match-sharp for the Australian Open despite having spent little time on court in his opening two matches.
The world number four opted to play at the roundrobin tournament in Perth instead of defending his title at Doha because of the guarantee of three singles matches.
Murray has, however, been on court for less than two hours.
Unless Great Britain reach the final, Murray has just one match left in Perth, against Russia’s Igor Andreev, and is not scheduled to play again before the Australian Open begins in Melbourne on January 18.
The 22-year-old is not concerned, however, saying that the additional workload of playing mixed doubles at the Hopman Cup will give him the match practice he needs.
‘‘It’s just spending time on court that you want,’’ said Murray.
‘‘Obviously if the games go longer that’s a good thing, but because we go straight out to play the mixed then if you look at it today I probably had two and half hours on the court in total and warmed up for half an hour as well.
‘‘It is enough. I don’t want to play loads.’’ Murray also revealed he was still getting used to the pace of the balls and courts in Australia.
The Hopman Cup uses the same Wilson balls and hardcourt surface that players will be faced with at Melbourne Park and Murray admitted it took some adapting.
‘‘I started serving really well with the new balls and then as the first set progressed I started missing a lot of first serves into the net,’’ Murray said.
‘‘I haven’t played a match for five or six weeks so it’s probably just that. But the Wilson balls are quick and then they do slow down a lot so it does take a bit to get used to.
‘‘It’s just little adjustments.’
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