I couldn't stay awake after Sister Beth gave Justine the first set.
THE United States remains well and truly the most successful Hyundai Hopman Cup nation with the team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John Isner claiming their sixth victory inside Perth's Burswood Dome in front of a crowd of 8564 people.
The USA team came into Hyundai Hopman Cup XXIII unseeded but played outstanding tennis all week dominating Group B beating France's Kristina Mladenovic and Nicolas Mahut 3-0, Italy's Francesca Schiavone and Potito Starace 2-1 and Great Britain's Laura Robson and Andy Murray 3-0 [sic].
Mattek-Sands and Isner took on the Belgium team of Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans in the Final after they replaced the Serbian team of Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic when Ivanovic suffered a slight stomach tear.
Belgium had put together a strong week in their own right, though, bouncing back from losing to Australia's Alicia Molik and Lleyton Hewitt to beat Kazakhstan's Sesil Karatantcheva and Andrey Golubev 3-0 and then Serbia 2-1.
Henin, a winner of seven Grand Slam titles, gave Belgium a winning start by beating Mattek-Sands 7-6 (6), 6-3. Isner bounced back to even the Final at one rubber apiece after he downed Bemelmans 6-3, 6-4.
It was then the deciding mixed doubles to determine the Hyundai Hopman Cup XXIII winner and the USA dominated winning 6-3, 6-4. Mattek-Sands and Isner now join five other representatives for the United States to have won at the Hopman Cup.
The first victory came in 1997 with Chanda Rubin and Justin Gimelstob opening America's account. It took until 2003 for the next win when Serena Williams and James Blake were successful with Blake back the following year to win with Lindsay Davenport.
Lisa Raymond and Taylor Dent then teamed to win in 2006 and the fifth title came in 2008 when Williams returned to be victorious alongside Mardy Fish.
Mattek-Sands and Isner now join them after an outstanding week that has seen a total attendance figure of 78,242 attend. It is the biggest figure since the Cup has been an 11 Session event. Mattek-Sands was delighted in how the week in Perth unfolded.
''It’s been an amazing week. It’s my first time in Perth and I've really enjoyed myself. It’s funny, I saw this (diamond tennis ball trophy) actually when I first got here and I thought it was the best trophy in sports,'' Mattek-Sands said.
''This is one of the best run events of the WTA Tour of the year. It’s fantastic. There was a really strong field this year, there was great players; Ana, Justine, Djokovic, Hewitt. I hope everyone enjoyed watching some great tennis this week.''
Isner made his debut at last year's Hopman Cup and was delighted to return, and to partner Mattek-Sands to form a winning team. He was also happy to bounce back from a tough loss to Murray.
''I’ve got to thank Bethanie; her back’s got to be hurting from carrying me all week. She was rock solid all week long,'' Isner said.
''I kind of got a whooping yesterday (against Murray), but I regrouped and played very well today which is really, really encouraging. Also I want to say congrats to the Belgium team. It’s a great team we beat today.''
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