Andy Murray hasn't wasted much time during the Hopman Cup, spending
less than three hours on court in his three singles wins.
His brutal efficiency continued on Friday when he defeated
Igor Andreev 6-1, 6-0 to even the semifinal against Russia. Murray
then teamed with 15-year-old Laura Robson for a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6
(6) win over Andreev and Elena Dementieva that put Britain into the
championship.
Britain comfortably took the first set of the decisive
doubles and led by a break in the second, before Murray's
consistency and Robson's tenacity made the difference down the
stretch.
"I didn't make too many mistakes and I got off to a good
start. It settled me down," Murray said. "Today was definitely the
best I've played so far."
Britain will face Spain for the title, after it clinched a
place in the final with a win over the tournament host and
top-seeded Australia. Spain is a two-time winner of the Hopman Cup,
in 1990 and 2002, while Britain is making its first appearance in
the final.
Kazakhstan beat Germany 2-0 in Friday's other group B match.
Dementieva gave Russia a 1-0 lead when she beat Robson 6-4,
6-0, but Murray answered right back. He took only 48 minutes to
knock Andreev off the hard courts of Perth's Burswood Dome, then
made some important shots in doubles to help Britain survive.
Murray is skipping the tournament in Doha, Qatar, this year
after winning the title there the past two years. He's hoping his
change in preparation will help him capture his first major title
when the Australian Open begins Jan. 18 in Melbourne.
"If I can play like that then I can win Australia for sure,"
Murray said. "In terms of the way I was striking the ball and
moving and playing well up at the net and taking chances, that was
probably the best I've played at the start of a year.
"Sometimes you play two, three matches like that a year and
fortunately one of them was today. Hopefully I've got a couple more
in the Aussie Open."
Kazakhstan had a chance of reaching the final if it beat
Germany and Britain had lost to Russia. Yaroslava Shvedova beat
Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 7-6 (3) and Andrey Golubev beat Philipp
Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1 in the singles.
