Spain beats Great Britain; wins 3rd Hopman Cup

15-year old Laura Robson of Great Britain won her first match of the tournament, shocking world #26 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain in the first rubber of the 2010 Hopman Cup with a 6-1, 7-6 (6) score. That however, wasn't enough for Great Britain as Robson's world #4 partner, Andy Murray, lost his first singles match of the tournament after winning the first set, 6-1. He was beaten by world #16, Tommy Robredo, who upped his performance in completing a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 come from behind victory to force a deciding mixed doubles. The Spaniards then beat the British duo 6-3, 7-5 to become the third pair to win the Hopman Cup for Spain.

Spain is now the second most successful nation in this annual mixed gender event, tied with Slovak Republic with 3 wins each behind the United States who has won the most Hopman Cup titles with five. Spain is seeded 4th behind #1 Australia, #2 Russia and #3 Great Britain in this year's edition. It was placed in Group A alongside USA, Australia and Romania. Spain won all 9 matches against the 3 teams in Group A to make it to the championship against Group B winner, Great Britain.

For the full results of the 22nd Hopman Cup, check out Hopman Cup 2010 Tournament Results.

List of Hopman Cup Champions

HCI December 28 1988 – January 1 1989
Czechoslovakia (Miloslav Mecir, Helena Sukova)

HCII December 26, 1989 – January 1, 1990
Spain (Emilio and Arantxa Sanchez)

HCIII December 27, 1990 – January 4, 1991
Yugoslavia (Goran Prpic, Monica Seles)

HCIV December 27, 1991 – January 3, 1992
Switzerland (Jakob Hlasek, Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere)

HCV January 2, 1993 – January 8, 1993
Germany (Michael Stich, Steffi Graf)

HCVI December 31, 1993 – January 7, 1994
Czech Republic (Petr Korda, Jana Novotna)

HCVII December 31, 1994 – January 7, 1995
Germany (Boris Becker, Anke Huber)

HCVIII December 31, 1995 – January 6, 1996
Croatia (Goran Ivanisevic, Iva Majoli)

HCIX December 28, 1996 – January 4, 1997
USA (Justin Gimelstob, Chanda Rubin)

HCX January 4, 1998 – January 10, 1998
Slovak Rep. (Karol Kucera, Karina Hadsudova)

HCXI January 2, 1999 – January 9, 1999
Australia (Mark Philippoussis, Jelena Dokic)

HCXII January 1, 2000 – January 8, 2000
South Africa (Wayne Ferreira, Amanda Coetzer)

HCXIII December 30, 2000 – January 6, 2001
Switzerland (Roger Federer, Martina Hingis)

HCXIV December 29, 2001 – January 5, 2002
Spain (Tommy Robredo, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario)

HCXV December 28, 2002 – January 4, 2003
USA (James Blake, Serena Williams)

HCXVI January 3, 2004 – January 10, 2004
USA (James Blake, Lindsay Davenport)

HCXVII January 1, 2005 – January 8, 2005
Slovak Republic (Dominik Hrbaty, Daniela Hantuchova)

HCXVIII December 30, 2005 – January 6, 2006
USA (Taylor Dent, Lisa Raymond)

HCXIX December 30, 2006 – January 5, 2007
Russia (Dmitry Tursunov, Nadia Petrova)

HCXX December 29, 2007 – January 4, 2008
USA (Mardy Fish, Serena Williams)

HCXXI January 3, 2009 – January 9, 2009
Slovak Republic (Dominik Hrbaty, Dominika Cibulkova)