Germany have survived a scare at the Hopman Cup in Perth, winning a live Fast4 mixed doubles clash to claim a 2-1 victory in their tie against Belgium.
After splitting the singles matches, Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev teamed up for the first time in the doubles to win in straight sets, 4-2- 4-3 (5-2).
The Germans broke the serve of Belgium's David Goffin in the opening game, which was also the only break of serve for the match.
Earlier, world No.7 Goffin continued his terrific 2017 form.
The Belgian kept his country alive with an impressive 6-3 6-3 win over world No.4 Zverev.
The 27-year-old is in rare form, having won both of his singles matches in Belgium's losing Davis Cup final against France in November.
On Monday night, after Angelique Kerber fought hard for her 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-1) win over Elise Mertens in the women's singles to give Germany the lead in the mixed teams event, Goffin again out-performed a top-ranked player and forced the tie to a live fast-four mixed doubles clash.
Goffin claimed the opening set in just 35 minutes on the back of 12 winners.
Zverev took a 2-0 lead in the second set and belted down 10 aces for the match, but the Belgian made the most of his chances when they came.
There were 11 breaks of serve in the two sets of the women's match.
Former world No.1 Kerber recovered from a slow start and was forced to fight for her straight-sets win over Mertens.
The German took 56 minutes to claim the opening set. It was a struggle for the 29-year-old, who had her serve broken twice, was called for two foot-faults and survived a set point.
The second set wasn't much easier.
She raced to a 4-1 lead, breaking her 22-year-old opponent's serve twice. She even had two attempts to take a 5-1 advantage.
But Kerber, now ranked No.21, let the up-and-coming Mertens back into the game.
The Belgian, ranked 36, won four consecutive games to take a 5-4 lead.
However, the experience of Kerber shone through again in the second tiebreak.
The German was satisfied with the quality of the match, which opened her Australian campaign.
"I think it was a good match from both of us; a really high quality," she said.
"For me, it gives me a bit of confidence starting the year like this, playing good tennis again.
"After the long break, playing tennis again, it is always different and tough but actually I am really happy about the first match and how I was feeling on court."
Share
