Australia, Jan 01: World number one Lleyton Hewitt kicked off his New Year celebrations a few hours early on Tuesday (December 31), demolishing Dominik Hrbaty of the Slovak Republic 6-2 6-0 as Australia maintained their 100 percent record in the Hopman Cup mixed team event. The one-sided victory secured a win for the second-seeded Australian pair who went on to take the mixed doubles 7-6 7-6 for a 3-0 whitewash over the Slovaks. Earlier Alicia Molik topped off 2002 with the best win of her career, beating world number eight Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-2. The victory was her first over a top 10-ranked player. Australia are yet to lose a set in the contest. Molik, like Hewitt, is due to attend a Hopman Cup black tie ball later on Tuesday, but did not wait till then to start her celebrations. She played a fine game on court against the world number eight, serving with great power and striking the ball firmly off both sides. The 94th-ranked Molik reduced the 86 places which separate the two to a hair's breadth and ran the Slovak ragged on Burswood's main court. A break in the ninth game of the opening set gave her the opportunity to seal the set and once she was ahead she never looked back. Thrilling a boisterous home crowd, the blonde South Australian broke twice more to clinch the match in emphatic fashion.


Hewitt has dominated men's tennis throughout 2002, remaining in the number one spot for the entire year. His ruthless demolition of Hrbaty ended his year in fitting style.


Bureau Report