Wozniacki wins twice in Hopman triumph over U.S.

PERTH, Australia (AP)—A late-arriving Caroline Wozniacki and teammate Frederik Nielsen beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-3 in mixed doubles to give Denmark a 2-1 win over the United States at the Hopman Cup on Monday.

Fish gave the U.S. an early 1-0 lead after beating Nielsen 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in men’s singles, but Wozniacki, who arrived only four hours earlier on a flight from Thailand, beat Mattek-Sands 7-6 (4), 6-2 to level at 1-1 before the Danish pair combined to win the decider.

Women’s singles are usually played first under the tournament format, but officials delayed that match to allow the top-ranked Wozniacki more time to practice on the Burswood Dome hardcourts.

Wozniacki went straight from the airport to the arena and it showed early— she trailed 3-0 and 5-1 in the opening set.

“It’s the first time I’ve done that, and I felt a bit nervous,” Wozniacki said of her rushed arrival. “I just started off playing too short and Bethanie just went for shots, made a lot of winners and it was tough for me to get into the points. But I just kept focusing. I didn’t even know it was 5-1 so I kept going and hoped for the best.”

Fish broke Neilsen when the Danish player was serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set to force the tiebreaker.

“The first one of the year is never pretty,” Fish said. “I feel like I haven’t had much time off … it feels like only a couple of weeks ago I was in London at the tour finals. I am working on a lot of things on the mental side of things to improve myself, and during the match today, I was thinking about that and maybe a little less on the match.”

Fish is coming off his best year, moving into the top 10 for the first time in May 2010, winning a tournament and playing consistently well. He credits losing 30 pounds (14 kilograms) with his stronger form and a rise in the rankings to No. 8.

“It’s been the discipline of losing that weight and really getting into as good a shape as I can,” Fish said. “When I lay my head on the pillow every night, I know I make the right choices, I put in the time.”

In another Group A match Monday, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych won singles matches to give Czech Republic a 2-1 victory over Bulgaria.

Kvitova won the last five games of her match to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-2 before seventh-ranked Berdych defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3.

Pironkova and Dimitrov won the mixed doubles, saving three match points to defeat the Czech pair 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 (match tiebreak) in a result that could help determine Group A placings and decide which teams advance to Saturday’s final.

No. 2-ranked Kvitova won five other tournaments in 2011 to add to her Wimbledon championship, then helped Czech Republic to the Fed Cup title. She was also named the WTA Tour player of the year.

“Of course the first match was tough and I won it,” she said. “The last season was longer than normal and I had some rest. Hopefully I am ready to play matches—we will see how it goes.”

Berdych reached the Wimbledon final in 2010, but his best performance in a Grand Slam in 2011 was a quarterfinal berth at the Australian Open. He was beaten in the first round at the French Open, the round of 16 at Wimbledon and third round at the U.S. Open.

“The expectations are pretty much similar to last year,” Berdych said. “I want to end up again in the World Tour finals in London, which means that I (need to) end up the year in the top eight. And then bring some even better results from Grand Slams and move my game higher.”

On Tuesday in Group B, Spain will attempt to win its second straight match when it plays China, which is 0-1. France, 1-0, will try to keep host Australia winless when the countries play a night match.

The teams with the best group records play in Saturday’s final.