Hopman Cup Looking For Bartoli Replacement
Hopman Cup Looking For Bartoli Replacementepa03531651 Tennis players Serbia's Novak Djokovic (L) and Ana Ivanovic (R) during the Kids Tennis Day activities in the Rod Laver Arena, a traditional pre-tournament event of the Australian Open 2013, Melbourne, Australia, 12 January 2013. EPA/DENNIS SABANGAN |
With the loss through retirement of drawingcard Marion Bartoli, Hopman Cup organizers are targeting the all-star Serbian combo of ATP world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic for a return appearance at the eight-nation mixed team event next January.
The pair has competed twice in Perth, Western Australia, in 2011 and 2013, losing the final last January to Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Fernando Verdasco.
The pullout of Bartoli, the Wimbledon champion who retired suddenly this month, threw the event into dis-array. Officials wasted no time in signing top-ranked Australians Sam Stosur and Bernard Tomic along with WTA No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska and Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz as Poland joined the field for the first time.
Hopman officials are heading to New York for the Open to recruit more talent for the December 28 to January 4 event. “It is fair to say no stone will be left unturned in getting the best players to come to Perth,” tournament boss Steve Ayles told Australian media. “At this stage they (the Serbs) are not confirmed but they are not confirmed elsewhere either. Serbia is still a possibility and while it is a possibility we are not going to fill the rest of the teams because we would like to hold something over for them.”
Another target is the Americans, with Cincinnati finalist John Isner on the recruitment radar along with either Venus Williams or Sloane Stephens.
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