The Hopman Cup is an annual international team tennis tournament held in Perth, Western Australia in early January (sometimes commencing in late December) each year, which plays mixed teams on a country by country basis. It is also known as the ITF World Mixed Team Championships.
Unlike other major international team tennis tournaments like the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup, which are strictly for men or women only, the Hopman Cup is a mixed competition where male and female players are together on combined teams and represent their country. Players are invited to attend, national coaches not being involved in selecting teams.
Eight nations are selected annually to compete in the Hopman Cup. (The 'last' team may be decided by play-offs between several nations before competition begins. For 2007 Hopman Cup however, this did not occur, due to the Asian Qualifying Tournament creating the eighth team. The official tournament website also has no qualifier listed in its schedule.)
Each team consists of one male player and one female player. Each match-up between two teams at the championships consists of:
Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић or Novak Đoković; pronounced [nɔ̂ʋaːk dʑɔ̂ːkɔʋitɕ] ( listen); born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008, 2011 and 2012 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year.
He is the first male player representing Serbia to win a Major singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and was on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup. He also won the bronze medal in singles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He has won 11 Masters 1000 series titles placing him joint fourth on the all time list. Djokovic has quickly moved up in the rankings of history. Tennis Channel ranked him number 40 , and former player Pat Cash said he is one of the greatest ever.
Ana Ivanovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Ивановић, Ana Ivanović; Serbian pronunciation: [âna iʋǎːnoʋitɕ] ( listen)) (born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of May 28, 2012, she is ranked 14th on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open. Competing as a professional since 2003, she has won 11 WTA Tour singles titles. When on form, Ivanovic is known for her aggressive style of play.
Ivanovic's mother Dragana (Драгана), a lawyer, supports her daughter during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav (Мирослав), a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš (Милош), with whom she loves to play basketball.
Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.
Justine Henin (French pronunciation: [ʒys.tin enɛ̃]; born 1 June 1982), known as Justine Henin-Hardenne between 2002 and 2007, is a retired professional Belgian tennis player and former World No. 1.
Henin won 43 WTA singles titles and seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles, one Australian Open title, and two US Open titles. She has also won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships twice and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the women's or men's game) as the principal reasons for her success.
Critics and all-time-great players have made testament to Henin's talent. Upon Henin's first retirement from the WTA in the early part of the 2008 season, Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation", as well as that "Justine is the best women's athlete I've ever seen."Andre Agassi said of Henin, "Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis." In 2007, 18 time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova said that "She is head and shoulders above everyone else right now." John McEnroe concurred, saying that Henin is "The player I most like to watch." Henin made a return to the WTA in early 2010, losing the final of the Australian Open in only her 2nd tournament back.
Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (French pronunciation: [nikɔla may]; born January 21, 1982 in Angers, Maine-et-Loire) is a French tennis player. Mahut is right-handed and has previously won the Orange Bowl in 1999, becoming professional in 2000. He is a good serve and volleyer and a doubles expert, having won many tournaments with his doubles partner Julien Benneteau. His career high was no. 40, achieved on February 18, 2008.
Mahut was runner-up to Andy Roddick at the 2007 Queen's Club Championships, having held a championship point in the second-set tiebreak. Mahut defeated both fifth seed Ivan Ljubičić and top seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets, as well as compatriot and future doubles partner Arnaud Clément, to reach the final.
Mahut holds a number of tennis records and awards for his performance in the longest match in professional tennis history against John Isner in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, where he also broke the record of most points won in a single match (502); and, most games won by a losing player (91).