Tennis

Federer to defend Hopman Cup title

Published Jun. 25, 2018 11:45 p.m. ET

PERTH, Australia (AP) World No. 2 Roger Federer has confirmed he will defend the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis title in Perth in December with Switzerland teammate Belinda Bencic.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion teamed with Bencic to win the title in January and will be playing in the tournament, which runs from Dec. 29 to Jan. 5, for the fifth time.

The German pairing of two-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber and world No. 3 Alexander Zverev are also returning after being runners up to Federer and Bencic in January. A German pair last won the Hopman Cup in 1995.

Federer went on after winning the Hopman Cup last year to win the Australian Open for the second straight year.

He said the tournament is ''the perfect preparation for the Australian Open and ... worked so well in the last couple of years.''

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