The United States beat Romania 3-0 in the Hopman Cup on Thursday,
while Spain secured a place in the final with a sweep of Australia.
Melanie Oudin beat Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 while Romania
forfeited the the men's singles and mixed doubles because of a
groin injury suffered by Victor Hanescu in an earlier match. The
U.S. had already been eliminated from reaching the finals.
Australia needed to win each of Thursday's matches in
straight sets to have a chance of reaching Saturday's championship,
but its hopes ended when Samantha Stosur was beaten 6-4, 6-1 by
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
"I didn't get to where I wanted to during the match,'' Stosur
said, "but she put the pressure on me throughout the whole match so
I couldn't do too much.''
Spain went on to take the men's singles, in which Tommy
Robredo beat former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, and mixed
doubles.
Hewitt, ranked No. 22, was troubled by a lower back injury
during the first set. He appeared in pain as he served five double
faults in his first two service games and called for medical
attention after dropping the opening set in 37 minutes.
Hewitt moved more freely in the second set after a lengthy
rubdown, and held serve in his first four service games before
Robredo claimed a decisive break in the ninth game.
The injury was a concern for home fans ahead of this month's
Australian Open, but Hewitt said it was unrelated to his
long-standing hip trouble.
"It is fine, I just had a bit of a back spasm in the first
game of the singles,'' Hewitt said. "It loosened up as the match
wore on, but it was frustrating at the start.''
Spain has a chance to win its third Hopman Cup, after
claiming the trophy in 1990 and 2002. Its opponent in the final
will be decided in Friday's Group B matches, when Britain takes on
Russia and Germany faces Kazakhstan.
