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Nick Kyrgios leads Australia to Hopman Cup win

Australia’s 17-year Hopman Cup title drought is over after Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova powered to singles wins over Ukraine in Saturday’s final at Perth Arena.

Gavrilova’s 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory over world No.19 Elina Svitolina gave Australia Green the perfect start, before Kyrgios wrapped up the job with a 6-3 6-4 demolition of Alexandr Dolgopolov.

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Australia’s only previous Hopman Cup title came back in 1999, when Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic took out the crown, beating Swedish pair Jonas Bjorkman and Asa Carlsson in the final.

The last time Australia even reached the final was in 2003, when Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik were defeated 3-0 by Serena Williams and James Blake.

Kyrgios was the hero of Hopman Cup 28, winning all four of his singles matches, and combining with Gavrilova for an unbeaten doubles run.

Against France on Friday night, Australia Green were down a set point in the mixed doubles.

Had they lost, Great Britain would have qualified for the final instead.

But Gavrilova nailed a clutch volley, before Kyrgios helped seal the 2-1 tie win with some magic at the net of his own.

In Saturday’s final, world No.36 Gavrilova produced a repeat of some of her own junior heroics to put Australia within one win of winning the crown.

Gavrilova trailed 6-1 in the second-set tiebreak, before reeling off seven straight points to secure a famous victory.

“I played a tournament in under 12s, and it was a super tiebreaker, and I was down 9-1 and I ended up winning,” Gavrilova revealed after the epic win over Svitolina.

“I just literally told myself to settle down, just stop thinking of everything. Just think about how to win every point.

“I just played free.”

Kyrgios was clinical in the men’s singles rubber, taking the first set in 26 minutes before snaring an early break in the second to cruise to victory.

The match lasted just 57 minutes all up, with Kyrgios’ powerful serve proving too much to handle for Dolgopolov.

– AAP

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