Murray inspires Hopman win

Andy Murray inspired Britain to a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan in their first Group B match at the Hopman Cup.

Teenager Robson loses opening rubber despite good start

Andy Murray inspired Britain to a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan in their first Group B match at the Hopman Cup. Murray watched team-mate Laura Robson go down in three sets to Yaroslava Shvedova in the round-robin event before levelling the tie with a fluent 6-2 6-2 triumph against Andrey Golubev. The pair then teamed up in the mixed doubles to grind out victory 12-10 in a match-tie-break after the first two sets were shared 6-3 5-7. "I thought I played really well, it felt good," Murray said following his singles win. "I thought I was picking the ball up really well, which you can't always say in the first match of a new year." Robson failed to capitalise on the illness of opponent Shvedova as she lost the opening rubber. The 15-year-old took the first set against the flu-ridden Shvedova before succumbing 4-6 6-3 6-0. The Kazakh required a medical timeout at the end of the first set but the world number 52 rallied courageously to clinch the match. Shvedova broke early against a nervy-looking Robson, the former Wimbledon girls' champion, but the Brit took advantage of a couple of double faults by her opponent to level 4-4. And the teenager swiftly wrapped up the set as Shvedova started to struggle, needing treatment for a nose bleed before the start of the second. However, she dug deep and broke Robson in the third game and again in the ninth to level the match before taking over as she looked to keep the rallies to a minimum. Her aggressive approach paid off as Robson was overpowered in the deciding set, although she will get the chance to make amends in the mixed doubles.