Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic combined to give Serbia a 3-0 sweep over Kazakhstan on Sunday in their opening match at the Hopman Cup.
Ivanovic defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the first match before Djokovic clinched the victory by rallying to beat Andrey Golubev 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. The duo completed the sweep with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win in the mixed doubles of the annual mixed-teams event.
Djokovic looked sluggish in the first set, when Golubev got the decisive break in the ninth game. But the Serb found his stride in the second, taking a 5-2 lead before racing through the decider.
''I was having a lot of fun,'' said Djokovic, who is playing in the event for the first time since 2007. ''You don't get many events throughout the year where you can really have fun and enjoy tennis. This is the event where I could just bring some laughs and a couple of jokes here and there during the match. Hopefully people like it.''
In the women's singles, both players struggled with their serves in the first set, which saw five consecutive breaks. But Ivanovic gradually took control thanks to her stronger baseline play in the hot and humid conditions at Perth's Burswood Dome.
After trading breaks again to start the second set, Ivanovic reeled off the next five games to seal the win.
''I think we were both really nervous and it was so hard to hold our serves,'' Ivanovic said. ''I started to serve a little bit better in the tiebreaker and then in the second set. I am working on it still. It's been good the last few months. It's also the first match for a while but it's good to have the pressure of playing matches again.''
On Monday, the United States will play France, with John Isner set to take on Nicolas Mahut for the first time since their marathon 70-68 fifth set at Wimbledon last year. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Kristina Mladenovic will play the women's singles.
Also, Andy Murray and Laura Robson of Britain will take on Potito Starace and Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
