Croatia won the Hopman Cup at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday in a tournament that saw Carlos Alcaraz make his first appearance since being crowned Wimbledon champion.
Just days after beating Novak Djokovic on centre court at Wimbledon, Alcaraz made the trip to the French Riviera to compete for Spain in the Hopman Cup. As he switched grass for clay, the Spaniard failed to add further silverware to his cabinet. Despite winning both of his singles matches, defeats in the doubles alongside Rebeka Masarova put pay to Spain’s chances of victory on the Niçois clay.
Instead, it was Croatia who won the tournament for the first time in 27 years. Donna Vekic and Borna Coric both won their singles matches in the final against Switzerland to lift the trophy. Both matches were won in straight sets on Sunday.
Hopman Cup makes a welcome return
It was the first time the Hopman Cup had taken place in four years, and the tournament made a welcome return, providing some thrilling tennis over five sun-drenched days on the Riviera.
The Cup pits six national teams against each other with the teams consisting of one male and one female. The round-robin section is followed by a final between the two group winners.
The Swiss pair were the lowest-ranked going into the tournament, but battled through to the final before ultimately losing against a strong and dominant Croatian side. The winners were handed an emblematic “I Love Nice” trophy by Nice major Christian Estrosi in a ceremony that capped a successful tournament, attended by the game’s elite.
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Photo source: Hopman Cup