South Africa Defeat Australia in Hopman Cup
January 4, 1999 - 0:0
PERTH, Australia South Africa whipped Australia 2-1 on the second day of the 900,000 Australian dollars (550,620 U.S.) Hopman Cup tennis mixed teams tournament here Sunday. South Africa's Amanda Coetzer raced to victory in only 47 minutes over Australia's number one world junior, Jelena Dokic, before Wayne Ferreira beat Mark Philippoussis, also in straight sets. In the women's singles, Coetzer, 27, completely overwhelmed the 15-year-old Australian 6-1, 6-0.
Then Ferreira overcame Philippoussis 6-2, 6-3 in the men's singles. In the dead mixed doubles, the Australians gained a consolation win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Coetzer, 27, ranked 17th in the world, ruthlessly underlined the massive gap between junior and senior ranks. But the South African played down the ease of her win, saying her opponent was very young and had a lot of potential.
She was understandably a bit nervous, Coetzer said. And maybe the variety on my serve caught her off guard a bit. I thought I played rather well, and did not give her much of a chance. It was certainly nice to start with a win, and I will try to build on that. Ferreira, who has a ranking of 26th, was also gracious in victory, saying he thought he had a major advantage over Philippoussis (ranked 15th) because he had two matches before he left South Africa, whereas the Australian was playing his first game after a break.
It gave me a big advantage, Ferreira said. I came out and felt I had been playing a lot and it makes a big difference. Ferreira was happy with the way he handled Philippoussis' big serve. I saw the ball pretty big, he said. It was good. South Africa's next clash is with the French pair, Guillaume Raoux and Sandrine Testud, Tuesday. Raoux, ranked 53rd, and Testud, ranked 14th, comfortably defeated Zimbabwe's brother and sister combination, Wayne and Cara Black, in a play-off Saturday. They easily won their singles dubels before Zimbabwe gained a consolation success in the dead mixed doubles.
Ferreira and Raoux will be clashing for the first time, while Coetzer has met Testud twice (in Melbourne, Australia, and at Wimbledon), with the South African winning both times. (AFP)
Then Ferreira overcame Philippoussis 6-2, 6-3 in the men's singles. In the dead mixed doubles, the Australians gained a consolation win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Coetzer, 27, ranked 17th in the world, ruthlessly underlined the massive gap between junior and senior ranks. But the South African played down the ease of her win, saying her opponent was very young and had a lot of potential.
She was understandably a bit nervous, Coetzer said. And maybe the variety on my serve caught her off guard a bit. I thought I played rather well, and did not give her much of a chance. It was certainly nice to start with a win, and I will try to build on that. Ferreira, who has a ranking of 26th, was also gracious in victory, saying he thought he had a major advantage over Philippoussis (ranked 15th) because he had two matches before he left South Africa, whereas the Australian was playing his first game after a break.
It gave me a big advantage, Ferreira said. I came out and felt I had been playing a lot and it makes a big difference. Ferreira was happy with the way he handled Philippoussis' big serve. I saw the ball pretty big, he said. It was good. South Africa's next clash is with the French pair, Guillaume Raoux and Sandrine Testud, Tuesday. Raoux, ranked 53rd, and Testud, ranked 14th, comfortably defeated Zimbabwe's brother and sister combination, Wayne and Cara Black, in a play-off Saturday. They easily won their singles dubels before Zimbabwe gained a consolation success in the dead mixed doubles.
Ferreira and Raoux will be clashing for the first time, while Coetzer has met Testud twice (in Melbourne, Australia, and at Wimbledon), with the South African winning both times. (AFP)