Tennis Croatia beats Spain in Hopman Cup to secure final against Switzerland | Mighty 790 KFGO

(Reuters) Croatia’s Borna Coric and Donna Vekic beat Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Rebeka Masarova 1-6 6-4 (14-12) in the mixed doubles of the Hopman Cup on Saturday to secure a 2-1 victory to book their place in the final against Switzerland.

World number one Alcaraz earlier leveled the tie at 1-1 with a 6-3 6-7(6) (10-5) win over Coric to make it two wins from as many singles matches on the clay courts of Nice, days after his Wimbledon victory on the grass at the All England Club.

The 20-year-old raced through the first set in 36 minutes. He had clearly had the rust knocked off his game in the win against Belgium’s David Goffin a day earlier, but Coric fought his way back into the match to edge a tight second-set tiebreak.

Alcaraz stepped up a gear in the super tiebreak to complete the win in just over two hours, setting up a decider where Croatia held their nerve in a dramatic encounter to complete a memorable comeback victory.

Croatia, the 1996 champions, will look to win their second title in Sunday’s competition.

Vekic proved too strong for Masarova in the first game of the tie as the world number 22 converted four of her seven break point chances to secure a 6-2 6-1 victory that effectively ended Spain’s chances of reaching the title match.

Switzerland defended their title in the final round of the mixed team tournament in 2019 with their fourth crown as Roger Federer led them to victory over Germany in the final.

The relaunched championship returned to the tennis calendar this week after a four-year hiatus, having lost its place before the Australian Open as a result of the short-lived ATP Cup men’s team event.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)