Hopman Cup

The Hopman Cup is an annual international team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament held in Perth, Western Australia in early January (sometimes commencing in late December) each year, which plays mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis. It is also known as the Championships.

The championship is named in honour of Harry Hopman (1906–1985), an Australian tennis player and coach who guided the country to 15 Davis Cup titles between 1938 and 1969. Since the Hopman Cup was founded in 1989, it has been attended each year by Harry Hopman's widow, his second wife Lucy, who travels to the tournament annually from her home in the United States.

The tournament is a sanctioned event in the calendar of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), but individual player results are not included in the calculation of the tennis world rankings. The competition receives extensive television coverage in Australia and is an important lead-up tournament to the Australian Open each January as part of the Australian Open Series. The winning team receives a silver cup perpetual trophy and up to 2014 the winning team members were presented with distinctive individual trophies in the shape of a tennis ball encrusted with diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In 2014 and 2015, the individual trophies were created in the shape of an intricate diamond encrusted tennis racket and ball, using just under an ounce of 18-carat white, yellow and rose gold and approximately half an ounce of pink argyle diamonds. These trophies are valued at $26,000.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer (German: [ˈfeːdərər] born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). His accomplishments in professional tennis cause him to be popularly regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer turned professional in 1998 and has been continuously ranked in the top 10 since October 2002.

Federer holds several records of the Open Era: holding the world No. 1 position for 302 weeks (including 237 consecutive weeks); winning 17 Grand Slam singles titles; reaching each Grand Slam final at least five times (an all-time record); and reaching the Wimbledon final ten times. He is among the seven men (and among the four in Open Era) to capture a career Grand Slam. Federer shares an Open Era record for most titles at Wimbledon with Pete Sampras (7) and at the US Open with Jimmy Connors and Sampras (5).

Federer has reached 27 men's singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 in a row from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships to the 2007 US Open, both statistics being records. He also appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon through to the 2010 Australian Open. He reached the semifinals at 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2016 Australian Open, he played in a record 65th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, reached a record 47th Grand Slam quarterfinal and a record 39th Grand Slam semifinal. Earlier at the 2015 US Open, he reached a record 27th Grand Slam final. Also earlier at the 2013 French Open, Federer reached a record 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Federer has won the most matches in Grand Slams (302) and is the first to record 65+ wins at each Grand Slam tournament.

Harry Hopman

Henry Christian "Harry" Hopman CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was a world-acclaimed Australian tennis player and coach.

Hopman was born in Glebe, Sydney, New South Wales, before his family moved to Parramatta, a city adjoining Sydney and now effectively a suburb of the metropolis.

Hopman was a student at Rosehill Public Primary (elementary) school, where his father was headmaster, and later at Parramatta High School, where he played tennis and cricket.

Early life

Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, Sydney as the third child of John Henry Hopman, schoolteacher, and Jennie Siberteen, née Glad. He started playing tennis at the age of 13 and, playing barefoot, won an open singles tournament on a court in the playground of Rosehill Public School, where his father was headmaster.

Davis Cup

Hopman was the successful captain-coach of 22 Australian Davis Cup teams from 1939 to 1967. With players such as Frank Sedgman, Ken McGregor, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, Neale Fraser, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle, Tony Roche, Roy Emerson, Ashley Cooper, Rex Hartwig, Mervyn Rose, and Mal Anderson, he won the cup an unmatched 16 times.

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev (born 22 January 1960) is a former professional tennis player from Russia who competed for the Soviet Union.

Career

In 1979, the Russian made his first appearance for the Soviet Davis Cup team.

Zverev was a bronze medalist in the men's singles event at the 1983 Summer Universiade won a singles gold medal at the Friendship Games, which were held in 1984. He did better than two years earlier at the 1985 Summer Universiade, winning both the singles gold medal and the doubles gold medal, partnering Sergi Leonyuk, with whom he was also a gold medalist in the 1986 Goodwill Games.

He appeared in three Grand Slam tournaments during his career. In the 1985 Australian Open he qualified for the main draw and was beaten in the opening round by Tim Wilkison. Again playing as a qualifier, Zverev met Tim Mayotte in the first round of the 1986 Wimbledon Championships and was defeated in straight sets. As a mixed doubles player he took part in the 1986 French Open, with Svetlana Cherneva.

Belinda Bencic

Belinda Bencic (born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss tennis player, currently ranked World No. 9, and the youngest player in the WTA top 10. Bencic has won two singles and two doubles titles on the WTA tour, as well as two singles and two doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career.

In 2012, Bencic made her debut for the Switzerland Fed Cup team, and in 2013 won the French Open and Wimbledon girls' singles titles. She has also been a finalist in three girls' doubles tournaments, at the US Open in 2012 and 2013, as well as at Wimbledon in 2012. Bencic's run to the quarterfinals at the 2014 US Open, defeating two top-ten players, including former world No. 1 Jelena Janković along the way, propelled her into the top 40 for the first time in her career. In 2015, Bencic won her first title at the Aegon International, beating Agnieszka Radwańska in the final as well as breaking into the top 20. She won the biggest title of her career at the Rogers Cup, beating four top-ten players: Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, world No. 1, Serena Williams, and Simona Halep en route.