Russia raced to their first Hopman Cup title after singles wins for Nadia Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead over Spain in the final on Friday.
World number six Petrova gave the top seeds the momentum with a 6-0 6-4 demolition of Anabel Medina Garrigues before Tursunov sealed the tie with a 6-4 7-5 victory over world number seven Tommy Robredo.
Since losing their opening pool match against Australia, the Russian duo have improved as the tournament progressed, beating France in their final group tie by the required 3-0 margin to ensure they qualified for a debut appearance in the final.
Petrova, showing no signs of the side strain injury that troubled her earlier in the week, rattled off the first set against Medina Garrigues in 30 minutes, helped by some pinpoint groundstrokes.
A roar from the crowd boosted Medina Garrigues as she opened her account in the second set but the Russian broke again to take a 4-2 lead.
The Spaniard managed to level at 4-4, but Petrova secured two match points on her opponent’s serve while leading 5-4 and sealed the win in an hour and four minutes at the second attempt when Medina Garrigues’s lame forehand drifted wide.
Tursunov, ranked 22 in the world, always looked the sharper against Robredo, who appeared jaded after Spain’s final pool match ended in the early hours of Friday morning.
The Russian claimed the opener in 38 minutes with ferocious power hitting from the baseline but Robredo hit back to serve for the second set at 5-4.
Tursunov stepped up his game again to level it and clinched victory with another break in the 12th game, sealed with a crunching forehand service-return winner only called in after a referral to Hawk-Eye. — Reuters