Andy Murray and Laura Robson made it two wins from two for Great Britain at the ITF Hopman Cup with a 2-1 result against Germany.
Russia stunned by Kazakhstan to leave Group B wide open
Andy Murray and Laura Robson made it two wins from two for Great Britain at the ITF Hopman Cup with a 2-1 result against Germany.
The British duo clinched the mixed doubles 6-3 6-2 to move clear at the top of Group B after Russia were stunned by Kazakhstan.
Murray was certainly in red-hot form in Perth, despite struggling with sunburn, needing just an hour to beat world number 27 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-1.
The Scot continued his preparations for the upcoming Australian Open with a routine win that saw him take eight of the last nine games.
One-sided set
It took the world number three, who continued to show off his much improved serve-volley game, just 17 minutes to take a one-sided second set.
"My back is on fire," he said afterwards. "I practised yesterday with my shirt off and I got so, so burnt."
Murray had opened his campaign Down Under with a 6-2 6-2 win over Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev following a three-week training camp in Miami.
Germany had taken the lead in the tie when Sabine Lisicki recorded a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 result in the women's singles match.
However the outcome could have been different had Robson not been broken when serving for the opening set at 5-4.
In the end the Melbourne-born teenager was edged out in a tie-break.
Lisicki, ranked 22 in the world, then stepped up the pace in the second set to run out victorious in a match that lasted an hour and 32 minutes.
The British pairing will clinch a place in the final if they can beat Russia, who slipped to a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of outsiders Kazakhstan.
Inspired display
An inspired Andrey Golubev saw off an out-of-sorts Igor Andreev 6-4 6-3 to level the tie at 1-1 after Elena Dementieva had posted a 6-3 6-1 win over Yaroslava Shvedova.
The world number 133 and Shvedova then won the deciding mixed doubles by a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 scoreline to leave themselves in with a chance of qualifying.
Russia will need to beat Great Britain in the final round of matches and hope Kazakhstan do not defeat winless Germany 3-0 at the Burswood Dome.
"Today was very good day for me," Golubev said afterwards. "First I had a good game in singles and then we enjoyed the doubles very much.
"We have played well. We were so close to beating Great Britain so we will try to win the next match to reach the final but we know it depends on the UK."
