The Slovak pairing of Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty claimed the country's third Hopman Cup title in Perth on Friday.
Hrbaty clinches win after Cibulkova's success
The Slovak pairing of Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty claimed the country's third Hopman Cup title in Perth on Friday.
The duo won singles matches against Russians Dinara Safina and Marat Safin to lift the title four years after Hrbaty partnered Daniela Hantuchova to victory.
The Slovak Republic's first success in the eight-team event came in 1998 when Karol Kucera and Karina Habsudova were victorious.
In the opening match, world number 19 Cibulkova claimed her fourth singles triumph of the week with a 6-7 6-1 6-4 over the third-ranked Safina.
The Russian edged the first set on a tie-break, Cibulkova double-faulting on Safina's first set point, but the Slovak rattled off 11 of the next 12 games as the Russian lost control of her serve and forehand.
But once again Cibulkova wobbled, allowing Safina to rally in the final set from 5-1 down, the Russian winning the next three games before the teenager successfully served out for the match.
The men's singles was a thriller, the 31-year-old Hrbaty belying his lowly ranking to hit back from the loss of the first set to come through 6-7 7-5 7-6.
Hrbaty, 221 places below Safin in the world list, showed tremendous heart after losing the first set 7-5 in the tie-break, breaking the Russian's serve in the 11th game before serving out the set.
The decider was just as cagey as it moved into an almost inevitable tie-break, Hrbaty this time having the upper hand to take it 7-3 and thus his second Hopman Cup.
