Former world number one and 2008 US Open champion Serena Williams is expected to lead a stellar field of players at the 2009 Hyundai Hopman Cup.
The Hyundai Hopman Cup is the Official Mixed Teams Championship of the International Tennis Federation, and has come to be regarded as the world’s most prestigious invitational tournament.
Nine-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams will be back next year as Team USA attempts to defend its title in Perth, Australia. Williams is scheduled to partner with James Blake.
“Serena’s return to number 1 was one of the biggest sports stories of the year,” said Tournament Director Paul McNamee in a statement released by the tournament. “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.”
The Hyundai Hopman Cup XXI Teams in seeded order are:
(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
The competition features a round robin format, consisting of two groups of four teams where all teams play each other once with the winners of each group progressing to the championship round.
The Asian Hopman Cup will be played November 12-15 in Kazakhstan.
The 21st Hyundai Hopman Cup will take place at the Burswood Dome from 3 – 9 January 2009. It will be televised on ABC and Fox Sports in Australia.
