Men's tennis roundup, 3 January 2019: Federer takes Switzerland to Hopman Cup final, Bopanna-Sharan only Indians left in Pune
The world of tennis saw plenty of action on the courts today. With three ATP 250 tournaments taking place simultaneously - in Brisbane, Doha and Pune - there was a lot of tennis for the fans to witness. In addition, the Hopman Cup continued in Perth as well, with Switzerland taking on Greece and Great Britain taking on the USA.
Without further ado, let's take a look at what transpired in these tournaments:
Hopman Cup: Federer takes Switzerland to final despite loss to Greece
Roger Federer single-handedly took Switzerland to the final of the Hopman Cup 2019 despite the team's loss to Greece in the final round-robin match. In the singles encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Federer played some clutch tennis on the important points and came out on top in two tight tie-breakers, 7-6(5), 7-6(4).
Tsitsipas had the upper hand in the first set tie-break as he was leading 4-1 but Federer stormed back to take it 7-5 after a double-fault from the youngster. The second set tie-breaker was easier for the Swiss Maestro, as he was in control throughout.
This win took Switzerland into the final despite Belinda Bencic's loss to Maria Sakkari later on. Switzerland lost the mixed doubles encounter as well but that did not matter as they were already into the final; Greece needed to win the tie 3-0 to have any chance of progressing.
In the first match of the day, Great Britan achieved their second win as they defeated the USA 2-1. Once again, Serena Williams was the lone winner, with Frances Tiafoe losing in men's singles, and the pair losing in the mixed doubles as well.
Maharashtra Open: Bopanna-Sharan only Indians left in draw
Ramkumar Ramanathan lost a tight three-set encounter against Malek Jaziri last night despite having the upper hand mid-way through the match. He was up a set and had break opportunities in the second set, but he failed to seal the deal.
In the end, Jaziri came out on top 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. With his loss, the only Indians left in the Maharashtra Open are the doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan.
The pair played out a thriller against fellow Indian veteran Leander Paes and his partner Miguel Angel Reyes, winning in the super tie-break 17-15.
Brisbane Open: Nishikori overcomes Dimitrov
Kei Nishikori was on top of his game as he fought off Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets, winning the match 7-5, 7-5.
Dimitrov had a 4-1 lead in the second set but a lot of errors from his racket, including a few double-faults, gave Nishikori the break back and eventually the match as well.
The Japanese will now take on Jeremy Chardy of France, who defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan in the other quarter-final. The remaining quarterfinal matches will take place tomorrow.
Doha Open: Djokovic earns a hard-fought victory
Novak Djokovic once again had to come back from behind in order to earn a hard-fought victory, this time against Nikoloz Basilashvili.
He lost the first set 6-4 but came back fighting to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 to enter the semi-finals.
In the first match of the day, Roberto Bautista Agut defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. He will face the World No. 1 in the semis.
Djokovic is in the semis of the doubles category as well, with his brother Marko.