The United States has defeated India, 2-1, and host country Australia scored a 2-1 upset over the Czech Republic at the Hopman Cup mixed team tennis competition in Perth, Australia.
The American team of Meghann Shaughnessy and Mardy Fish won the opening match. Shaughnessy, a one-day substitute for defending Australian Open champion Serena Williams, scored a three-set win over India's Sania Mirza, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Williams is recovering from a knee injury, but is expected to play in the Americans' next match on Monday.
Fish secured the victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Rohan Bopanna of India. Bopanna and Mirza won the mixed doubles, 6-4, 6-4.
In the second best-of-three match series, Australia's Alicia Molik and Peter Luczak beat the third seeded team of Lucie Safarova and Tomas Berdych, 7-5, 6-3 in the doubles to win 2-1.
The two countries split the singles with Molik beating Safarova in the women's singles (7-5, 6-2) and Berdych downing Luczak in the men's match, (7-6, 6-4). The top teams in each four-team group after round-robin play advance to the final.
The tournament is one of several hard-court events players are using to prepare for the first major tournament of the new season - the Australian Open - which starts January 14th in Melbourne.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.
