Kyrgios was the hero of Hopman Cup XXVIII, winning all four of his singles matches and combining with Gavrilova for an unbeaten doubles run.
Advertisement
Kyrgios comfortably defeated Kenny De Schepper but Gavrilova lost to Caroline Garcia and the mixed doubles went to a deciding match tie-break.
Australia had won the Hopman Cup only once before, when Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic took out the crown in 1999.
The victories at the Perth event will boost world number 30 Kyrgios’ confidence as he prepares for the first grand slam of the season beginning in Melbourne on January 18.
Australia Green were down a match point in the mixed doubles match tiebreak. “Hopefully we can bring it home”.
Rosewall, who has the distinction of being both the youngest and oldest Australian Open men’s singles champion, says he has yet to see any great change in Kyrgios’s on-court conduct.
Despite needing a big win against Germany and the Australian green team to lose heavily to France to progress in the competition, Watson was in high spirits as she posted a video of her football skills on her Instagram page.
The British number two triumphed 6-3 6-4 for a third career win over her former training partner.
Having taken the first set Gavrilova twice found herself up a break in the second and served for the match at 5-4.
But Gavrilova nailed a clutch volley, before Kyrgios helped seal the 2-1 tie win with some magic at the net of his own.
The two-time major quarter-finalist has been true to his word in an impressive week at the Hopman Cup, the highlight a straight-sets defeat of world No. 2 Andy Murray and subdued celebration. “I feel fine, it’s great to get matches in, nice to play during the day to get used to the hot weather”.
Lisicki’s serve provided rich pickings for the Brit pair, with two more breaks either side of a German break off Watson’s serve and that allowed them to dominate the second set, sealing the match 6-3 6-4.
Advertisement
Andy Murray and brother Jamie are just one match away from their first finals of 2016.
