Saturday 9 January 2016 12:34, UK
Australia have lifted the Hopman Cup for the first time in 17 years after defeating Ukraine 2-0 in the final in Perth on Saturday.
The Aussies entered a pair of sides in the mixed event and the Green team comprising Daria Gavrilova and Nick Kyrgios won all their matches as the hosts claimed the trophy for the first time since 1999.
Gavrilova got them off to a winning start in the final with a hard-fought 6-4 7-6 victory over Elina Svitolina and Kyrgios then wrapped things up with a convincing 6-3 6-4 success over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
The Australia team beat Great Britain earlier in the tournament, before denying the Brits a place in the final when they dramatically came from match point down in the doubles to beat France 2-1 on Friday night.
Kyrgios won all four of his singles matches in the event and also combined with Gavrilova for an unbeaten mixed doubles run.
Having won the first set of her match against Svitolina, Gavrilova failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second and then found herself 6-1 down in the tie-break, only to produce an amazing run of play and reel off seven points in a row.
"I told myself to settle down and stop thinking of everything," she said. "Just think about how to win every point.
"I told myself I was going to play a third set, so I just played free.
"I once played a tournament in under-12s. It was a super tiebreaker, I was down 9-1, and I ended up winning!"
Her victory put the tie into the hands of Kyrgios and, having taken the first set in just under half an hour, he grabbed an early break in the second before cruising to victory.
The Australian Open kicks off on January 18 and Kyrgios will go into the event emboldened after a fine week in which he numbered World No 2 Andy Murray among his victims.
And the Hopman Cup success was a landmark title for himself and Gavrilova, who have known each other for many years.
Kyrgios was collecting his first senior ITF tournament title, just four months after he was dropped from the Davis Cup team for the semi-final, while Gavrilova was representing her adopted country for the first time, having been naturalised last month.
Kyrgios said: "It means a lot, it is my first real title to have won.
"It is the perfect way to start the year. I haven't lost a match yet and I am riding a lot of confidence into the Australian summer.
"I have known Dasha for a long time and it is pretty special."
Gavrilova added: "It is the biggest event I have ever won and just representing Australia for the first time and winning this title straight away is amazing."
