American Bethanie Mattek-Sands stunned world No. 7 Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 in the United States' 2-1 win over Italy at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday.
John Isner gave the United States a 2-0 lead after coming through a close encounter against Potito Starace 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4. But Italy denied the U.S. a second clean sweep at the Hopman Cup, as Schiavone and Starace pulled off a surprising 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-3 victory in the mixed doubles.
The result means that all four nations in Group B – Italy, the United States, Britain and France – still have a chance of qualifying for Saturday's final. The United States has one match remaining in Group B, against Britain on Friday.
"We're in the driver's seat right now, but nothing's set in stone that's for sure," Isner said. "Everyone's still alive, so we can't let up."
Dressed head-to-toe in black, Mattek-Sands wasted little time in applying pressure to the French Open champion Schiavone, breaking to go 3-2 ahead in the opening set and maintaining her lead the rest of the way.
Schiavone looked under par on another humid day in Perth, falling a break behind at the start of the second set. She broke back, but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Mattek-Sands broke again to complete the victory.
"That was my goal going into this match – to get into the net before she did," Mattek-Sands said. "She's an aggressive player and I was just trying to take her high balls early and not get myself behind the baseline too far.
"I worked pretty hard in the off season for my fitness. I had to hang in with Francesca. She's a great player. That last game, I mean I was running from side to side. It was a great match."
Starace was the first to break in the men's match, beating the lanky Isner's serve for the first time in the competition at 3-3 in the opening set. But the American broke straight back, and the set went into a tiebreaker.
Starace refused to go quietly, staying strong on serve and breaking Isner at the crucial juncture to win the second set.
As both men were drained by heat, Starace looked like causing an upset when he broke Isner's serve again to lead 3-1. But the American broke back, and broke again to take the set and the match with his 23rd ace.
"I needed some air conditioning out here today," Isner said. "When I got broken in the third that freed me up a bit, I started going for my shots a little more, that helped me out. I lost my serve three times, it doesn't happen that often, but I'd rather win the match like this than lose one where I didn't lose my serve."
Britain takes on France in the other Group B tie later Wednesday, when Laura Robson faces Kristina Mladenovic and Andy Murray plays Nicolas Mahut.
Meanwhile, Yaroslava Shvedova, who was forced to withdraw from the Hopman Cup on Monday after injuring her knee against Ana Ivanovic, confirmed that she has torn her meniscus and will require surgery that will probably result in her missing the Australian Open.
