By IANS
Perth : The Indian team got an unexpected boost at the Hopman Cup tennis as Serena Williams delayed her arrival due to illness, which means Sania Mirza will face substitute Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening singles of the tournament Saturday morning. The Hopman Cup is being played at the Burswood Dome from Dec 29 to Jan 4.
Sania has an edge in terms of world ranking, as she is pegged at 31st, while Shaughnessy is ranked 52nd in the world. However the American leads Sania 2-1 in head-to-head clashes. Sania’s lone win against Shaughnessy came at the Acura Classic in San Diego in August 2006. That was their first meeting, but since then Sania has lost twice to the American at Bangkok in 2006 and at Istanbul in 2007.
In her only clash with Serena Williams in 2005, Sania lost the match. Serena is currently ranked No. 7 in the world.
In the men’s singles, Rohan Bopanna will meet Mardy Fish and then Rohan and Sania will pair in the mixed doubles.
India are seeded seventh in the competition, while United States are number two behind Serbia, who are being represented by World No. 3 Novak Djokovic and women’s No. 3 Jelena Jankovic.
Serena’s arrival has now been delayed by two days and she is now expected to play her first match against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in a pivotal tie for both teams on December 31.
Tournament Director, Paul McNamee said “It’s great that Serena is still playing in Perth. Meghann is a good substitute coming off her appearance in the final of the 2007 US Open Mixed Doubles and a strong year in singles”. Shaughnessy will fly to the Gold Coast immediately after the match to play in the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts.
Under the rules of the tournament, substitutions are allowed between ties (but not during a tie). Therefore Williams and Fish will carry forward the results achieved by Shaughnessy and Fish in the opening tie without any penalty whatsoever.
The eight teams in the competition are Serbia, United State, Czech Republic, France, Argentina, Australia, India and Chinese Taipei in the order of seeing.
The Hyundai Hopman Cup is now in its 20th edition and it traditionally showcased the brightest young and future stars in world tennis. This year’s best are Serbians, Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic, both ranked No. 3 in men’s and women’s singles in the world. Djokovic is just 20 years of age and Jankovic 22, so they represent the future of the game.
In the 20 years of the staging of the Cup, the only team to rival this duo in world rankings is German legends Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, who appeared in the fourth edition in 1992.