Tennis stars lament potential end of Hopman Cup

PERTH: The likely demise of the Hopman Cup after three decades of the unique mixed teams tennis tournament has been greeted with sadness by players at this year’s edition, with Serena Williams calling the prospect "heartbreaking".

Swiss duo Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germans Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final in front of a sell-out crowd in Perth, but it is expected to be the last instalment of the event.

A dramatic finish to what was arguably the best Hopman Cup ever -- which also saw Federer and Serena face off for the first time in a historic mixed doubles clash -- came down to a single match point shared by both sides in the final. However, the event is widely tipped to be scrapped to make way for the new ATP World Team Cup, which will start next year.

While Tennis Australia has a contract with the West Australian State Government to run the ITF-sanctioned tournament until 2022, the new ATP event would make it very hard for the Hopman Cup to attract top men’s players.

American superstar Serena, who was playing in Perth for the fifth time in her career and has won the title twice, said she was unaware of speculation on the Hopman’s fate, but that she was upset by the prospect of it vanishing. Launched in 1989 by former Australian players Paul McNamee and Charlie Fancutt and named after Australian tennis great Harry Hopman, the Hopman Cup has been used as preparation for the Australian Open by three decades of players and has held a unique place in the tennis world as the only top level mixed teams tournament.