Marinko Matosevic produced a moral-boosting comeback win, but it wasn’t enough to save Australia from suffering a second straight loss at the Hopman Cup in Perth on Wednesday night.
Alize Cornet got the better of Casey Dellacqua in the opening match 4-6 7-5 6-1 and Matosevic overcame an early setback to defeat Benoit Paire 2-6 6-4 6-2 before the Aussie pair were ousted from finals contention following a 7-6 (3) 7-5 mixed-doubles loss.
Matosevic, replacing the injured Matt Ebden after a first round loss at the Brisbane International on Tuesday, shook off the extended travel schedule to fight back from a set down against the 25-year-old Paire.
He went down a break point in the second, but rallied to claim 10 of the next 12 games and level the head-to-head at 1-1 following Casey Dellacqua’s loss earlier in the evening.
“I went from a devastating low to a dizzying high,” Matosevic said. “I arrived last night at midnight. The time difference is never easy.”
“When I was 2-0 down in the second set I was like, ‘God, this is embarrassing’.
“But then the crowd really helped me out there and gave me some energy. I kept on feeding off them for the rest of the match.
“I remember as a kid, I’d always watch the Hopman Cup with my folks. So now to get a chance to play it – it’s a dream come true.”
Cornet and Paire wrapped up the doubles in an hour and 26 minutes and are still a hope to make the tournament final with a win over Poland on Friday.
“We had to fight, it was three really tough matches and that is what we expect against this great team (of) Australia,” said Cornet. ” We are very happy we won our first mixed doubles together. It was a tough one but we fought until the end and I think that is the most important thing.”
Matosevic will meet Andy Murray when Australia takes on Great Britain in the final round robin meeting before the top two teams from each group meet in Saturday’s final.
Photo: Will Russell/Getty Images.
