Perth: Andy Murray opened his 2010 season in impressive style on Monday, inspiring Britain to a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan in their opening round-robin Hopman Cup match at the mixed team event.
World No. 4 Murray had the crowd inside the Burswood Dome gasping at his variety and speed around the court as he levelled the tie with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Andrey Golubev.
Robson had been beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 by Yaroslava Shvedova but the 15-year-old then joined Murray to win the deciding mixed doubles 6-3, 5-7, 12-10.
Having started each of the past three years at a tournament in Doha, Murray is hoping an early arrival in Australia will boost his chances of success at Melbourne Park, where he has yet to go past the fourth round.
Golubev did not offer too much resistance but Murray looked sharp, breaking twice in each set as he cruised to victory.
“It was good, I played really well,” Murray said. “I felt like I moved pretty well from the start. It takes a bit of time normally at the start of the year, but I moved well.”
Former Wimbledon junior champion Robson made a bright start against world No. 51 Shvedova but then tired as her opponent, who was suffering from flu in the build-up, shrugged off a nose bleed at the end of the first set to first level and then run away with the third set.
Igor Andreev inspired Russia to a 2-1 win over Germany, edging out Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 to even up the tie after world No. 5 Elena Dementieva was hammered 6-4, 6-1 by rising talent Sabine Lisicki.
“I had such a slow start and by the time I was starting to feel the game it was already over,” Dementieva said.
“She was playing very aggressively and hitting lots of powerful shots so it didn’t give me any chances. It was a tough challenge for the first match of the year.”
The Russians won the deciding mixed doubles 6-4, 7-6.
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