American tennis ace Serena Williams is making her return to the Perth Hopman Cup in 2009, coinciding with the event’s milestone 21st year.Tournament director Paul McNamee said he was thrilled to welcome the nine time grand slam singles winner back to Perth. “Serena’s return to number one was one of the biggest sporting stories of the year,” he said. “It’s great to see James come back. “There’ll be a lot of interest in Serena, but equally as much in Lleyton Hewitt’s tournament comeback.“It’ll be a big week.”
Williams has never lost a match at the Hopman Cup. Her return will mark her third appearance in Perth.Serena Williams and James Blake will represent the top-seeded United States in the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis tournament. Williams and Blake combined to win the 2003 Hopman Cup — one of five titles for the United States in the 20-year history of the event.
Williams, a nine times Grand Slam singles winner and dual Olympic gold medalist, is already a two-time champion at the Hopman Cup mixed teams event. She briefly regained her mantle as women's singles world No.1 earlier this year following her US Open triumph over Jelena Jankovic but has since slipped back to No.3 in the world. The 21st Hopman Cup will be played at the Burswood Dome from January 3-9, 2009.
* Hopman Cup Teams *
(1) USA: Serena Williams and James Blake
(2) Russia: Dinara Safina and Marat Safin
(3) France: Alize Cornet and Gilles Simon
(4) Australia: Casey Dellacqua and Lleyton Hewitt
(5) Italy: Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli
(6) Germany: Sabine Lisicki and Nicolas Kiefer
(7) Slovak Republic: Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty
(8) Winner Asian Hopman Cup
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