PERTH, Australia (AP) Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat world No. 7 Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 in to help lift the United States to a 2-1 win over Italy at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday.
John Isner gave the Americans a 2-0 lead after winning a tight match against Potito Starace 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4. But Italy denied the U.S. a second clean sweep at the tournament when Schiavone and Starace pulled off a surprising 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-3 victory in the mixed doubles.
The result means that all four nations in Group B - Italy, the United States, Britain and France - still have a chance of qualifying for Saturday's final.
Dressed head-to-toe in black, Mattek-Sands wasted little time in applying pressure to the French Open champion Schiavone, breaking to go 3-2 ahead in the opening set and maintaining her lead the rest of the way.
Schiavone appeared to be laboring on another humid day in Perth, falling a break behind at the start of the second set. She broke back, but it only delayed the outcome as Mattek-Sands broke again to seal the victory.
That was my goal going into this match - to get into the net before she did,'' Mattek-Sands said.She's an aggressive player and I was just trying to take her high balls early and not get myself behind the baseline too far.
``I worked pretty hard in the offseason for my fitness. I had to hang in with Francesca. She's a great player. That last game, I mean I was running from side to side. It was a great match.''
Starace was the first to break in the men's match, beating the lanky Isner's serve for the first time at 3-3 in the opening set. But the American broke straight back, and the set went into a tiebreaker.
Starace refused to be put down, staying strong on serve and breaking Isner at the crucial juncture to win the second set.
As both men were drained by the heat, Starace seemed poised for an upset when he broke Isner's serve again to lead 3-1. But the American broke back, and broke again to take the set and the match with his 23rd ace.
I needed some air conditioning out here today,'' Isner said.When I got broken in the third that freed me up a bit. I started going for my shots a little more, that helped me out. I lost my serve three times, it doesn't happen that often, but I'd rather win the match like this than lose one where I didn't lose my serve.''
Britain takes on France in the other Group B match later Wednesday, when Laura Robson faces Kristina Mladenovic and Andy Murray plays Nicolas Mahut.
Meanwhile, Yaroslava Shvedova, who was forced to withdraw on Monday after injuring her knee against Ana Ivanovic, confirmed that she has torn her meniscus and will require surgery that will probably result in her missing the Australian Open.