The United States was eliminated from winning the Hopman Cup by
Australia after Americans John Isner and Melanie Oudin were beaten
in singles matches Tuesday.
Lleyton Hewitt defeated Isner 6-1, 7-5 and Samantha Stosur
beat Oudin 6-2, 6-4 to clinch Australia's 2-1 win. Isner and Oudin
won the mixed doubles.
The U.S. has won the Hopman Cup five times, but has an 0-2
record in group play and cannot reach the final. Australia is 1-1
in group play.
The Americans play a final round-robin match against Romania
on Thursday.
Spain remained unbeaten in its group after defeating Romania
on Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez's singles win and an injury
retirement by Victor Hanescu.
Hewitt won the first three games of his match with Isner in
eight minutes, and faced a break point while serving for the set
before hitting two aces to win. He broke Isner's serve in the 11th
game of the second set, then held serve for the win.
``I played extremely well,'' Hewitt said. ``John's always
going to be an awkward player for anyone. I played him a couple of
months ago (and beat him) so I kind of knew what to expect.''
Stosur lost in three sets in Australia's opening match to
Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
``It's a lot better walking off the court a winner than a
loser,'' Stosur said. ``I thought I played pretty well today.''
Stosur won the first set in 26 minutes but faced a tougher
test in the second, saving three break points before securing a
break of her own to open a 4-2 lead. She converted three of seven
breakpoint opportunities and had 14 aces.
