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Great Britain reach Hopman Cup final • British pair win match on super tie-break in doubles• Murray and Robson to face Spain in finalAndy Murray had intended the first week of January to be one of evaluation going into this month's Australian Open; play a few matches at a relaxed exhibition event and gently ease himself into the year, without doing anything that could jeopardise his chances of success in Melbourne.But as anyone who has followed Murray over the past few days knows, let his competitive juices start to flow and they are incredibly difficult to stop and tomorrow after finishing top of Group B, he and Laura Robson will be going for glory in the final of the Hopman Cup against the Spanish team of Tommy Robredo and Maria José MartÃnez Sánchez.Glory and diamonds, that is. The winners of the mixed team event receive a nice pay cheque – the biggest of Robson's young career – and two diamond-encrusted tennis balls. In the past such players as the women's world No1, Serena Williams, have made the long trip in search of jewels and now it seems that Robson has set her sights on something sparkly, less than two weeks before her 16th birthday. "I want those diamonds," she said, before denying that she had promised her mother, Kathy, the prize should she win it. "No chance," she said. "I didn't make any deals."Such has been the standard of Robson's tennis throughout the week that Murray has never needed to babysit her on court. Rather the two have formed a bubbly partnership, offering a high-five of support after points, and Murray has been the leader on court without making the former junior Wimbledon champion feel under pressure. It has worked perfectly and today Murray and Robson again joined forces to pinch the mixed doubles rubber as they edged out Russia 2-1 to reach the final. "You know she's 16 in a couple of weeks and she's expecting a present from me," Murray said. "I said if I play well tomorrow she gets one of those diamonds."Robson's improvement is almost visible by the day. Having been nervous in her first match – even though she won a set – she pushed Germany's Sabine Lisicki to two tight sets and then today twice broke back to find herself level with the world No5, Elena Dementieva. After that, it was one-way traffic as Dementieva found her stride but if she keeps improving like this, it will not be long before Robson is storming up from her present ranking of 403.Robson's 6-4, 6-0 loss put Russia ahead as expected but Murray was simply unstoppable against Igor Andreev as he levelled the tie inside 50 minutes with a 6-1, 6-0 demolition. Andreev, the world No35, was utterly helpless as Murray took him apart. Everything he tried – from serve and volleying to aggressive returning to one outrageous passing shot for a winner off an Andreev smash – came off and when he watched some of his shots on the big screen at one change of ends it was all he could do not to smile. "I was very lucky because I was one of the spectators but I didn't have to pay to get a ticket," Andreev said.Arguably, the Russians went into the mixed doubles as the favourites, with many feeling Andreev's heavy forehand would be too much for Robson. Far from it. Murray played almost error-free, dynamic doubles, and Robson was again up to the challenge, firing groundstrokes back to Andreev and winning more than her share of the points when the two went toe to toe.The pair looked set to wrap things up early when they broke Andreev late in the first set on the way to taking it and then stormed ahead 4-1. But the Russians hit back to win the second set on the tie-break and the momentum was theirs going into the super tie-break, a first-to-10 clash. But Robson held her game together brilliantly and the British pair took it 10-6 to render the result of the day's other match, between Kazakhstan and Germany, irrelevant. "In the mixed, guys are supposed to try and dominate the match and help out a little bit," Murray said. "But every time I tried to we lost a point. So I just let her do it all herself and she did great."Andy MurrayLaura RobsonTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Saban tapped for leadership award A motivational institute plans to give University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban a leadership award later this month in Birmingham. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Auction planned for stakes in Intrawest ski resorts An equity stake in a unit of Intrawest ULC — the Canadian company that operates Colorado’s Winter Park and Steamboat ski resorts — is to be auctioned off by creditors after the company’s parent failed to make a key debt payment, according to news reports. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Win a VIP trip to England v Wales Answer a simple question and you could be on your way to see some top Six Nations action guardian.co.uk |