ONE of the most unique tennis tournaments which features both ATP Tour and WTA Tour players is the Hopman Cup. Given the world circumstance and the fact it was already skipped on the eve of last year, it looks to be either delayed later in 2021, or perhaps at the turn of the New Year in 2022. However, in this new series we wanted to look at some hypothetical Hopman Cup teams and what they might look like if there was no COVID-19 pandemic, and if the famed mixed tournament did go ahead.

We continue the series with Great Britain and Russia. The former are regulars at the event, competing nine times, while the latter have competed seven times.

Great Britain: Andy Murray & Johanna Konta

Despite the nation competing nine times in the event, they are yet to win a title, with only Andy Murray being a top-end talent competing at the event. Fellow Top 5 player Greg Rusedski never competed, while Murray competed four times at the event, twice in back-to-back years of 2010-11 and 2015-16. He would be the pick to take to the hard courts because of his love for Australia and is the most capped Brit at the event. The other two top Brit’s in Dan Evans (2017) and Cameron Norrie (2019) have both competed as well, and you would expect if Great Britain did compete, it would be one of the trio.

In terms of the WTA Tour, Johanna Konta is the far and away top player at the moment, ranked well inside the Top 20. Though inconsistent, Konta has plenty of potential at her best, and teaming up with Murray would create a formidable team and the best on that the nation had formed at the event. More likely though, they would look at Heather Watson (three-time competitor) or Katie Boulter (most recent competitor) to represent.

Russia: Andrey Rublev & Ekaterina Alexandrova

It is amazing to think that Russia has just one title to its name at the Hopman Cup considering some of the names that have graced the indoor hard courts in Perth. Marat Safin played four times, and even teamed up with the likes of Anastasia Myskina and remarkably, his sister Dinara Safina, but could not ever get the win. Instead, Nadia Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov won in 2007 who lost their first match to Australia, before going on to upset Spain in the final. While Safin is no longer around to compete, 2018 competitor Karen Khachanov is, and he could be a good chance to go again. The pick for the men would be Andrey Rublev who has shot to the Top 10 this year and has all the pace and excitement to make it an entertaining tournament.

For the women’s side it would be a little tougher, but top-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova would be the pick. She plays well over the Australian summer time at year’s end, and is gradually improving her consistency. Russia actually has seven top 100 players which is remarkable, but none inside the Top 30. Veronika Kudermetova, Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina are other young talents who could step up to the plate, or the veteran of Svetlana Kuznetsova might enjoy the tournament’s style, having played here way back in 2006.

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