Serbia up for the Cup

Jankovic: Top-ranked player

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Serbia are the favourites for the Hopman Cup, which opens the new season in Perth this weekend.

With Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic each the world number three, Serbia are able to boast the top-ranked players in the tournament.

However, the 20-year history of the Hopman Cup is littered with surprises as players struggle to find top form after a six-week break and find it tough to adapt to the mixed doubles format.

France, who are among Serbia's Group A opponents along with Chinese Taipei and Argentina, will be without Gael Monfils after he withdrew with a knee injury.

Monfils' place has been taken by the veteran Arnaud Clement, who will partner Tatiana Golovin.

Late arrival

Serena Williams' arrival from the United States has been delayed due to a minor illness, so Meghan Shaughnessy will step in for the opening match against Group B opponents India.

France, seeded fourth, face Serbia in a potentially pivotal tie on Wednesday, with Golovin's singles match against Jankovic likely to influence the result.

World number 13 Golovin has pushed Jankovic close in their three previous meetings, winning one of them.

Clement, meanwhile, is a strong doubles player and beat Djokovic in their most recent meeting at the start of this year.

Hopman Cup seedings:

1 Serbia (Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic)

2 United States (Serena Williams/Meghan Shaughnessy and Mardy Fish)

3 Czech Republic (Lucie Safarova and Tomas Berdych)

4 France (Tatiana Golovin and Arnaud Clement)

5 Argentina (Gisela Dulko and Juan Ignacio Chela)

6 Australia (Alicia Molik and Peter Luczak)

7 India (Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna)

8 Chinese Taipei (Hseih Su-Wei and Lu Yen-Hsun)