This was published 8 years ago
Tennis stars shine at 2018 Hopman Cup New Year's Eve ball
WWOS staff
CANADA: Eugenie Bouchard and Vasek Pospisil. (Getty)
Bouchard has been a favourite ever since she rewarded a fan with a date after losing a Super Bowl bet. She and Pospisil are well down in the rankings and will be hoping for better seasons in 2018. Things got off to a tough start on New Year's Eve after they lost their opening round tie against Australia.
GERMANY: Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev. (Getty)
Zverev has been hailed as one of the next big things in tennis and the World No.4 has set himself a goal of grand slam glory in 2018. Kerber will also be hoping for a better year after a tumble down the rankings prompted the former World No.1 to change her coach in December.
RUSSIA: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Karen Khachanov. (Getty)
Khachanov is also part of 'Generation Next' and is keen to make his mark on the men's circuit this season. Pavlyuchenkova is ranked No.15 on the women's tour and prepared herself for the Hopman Cup with a steep snowshoe climb in the French Alps.
JAPAN: Yuichi Sugita and Naomi Osaka. (Getty)
Sugita tasted his first success on the ATP tour in July last year when he took out the inaugural Antalya Open in Turkey. Osaka, who is of Haitian-Japanese descent, thrilled the Hopman Cup crowd recently when she aced champion Roger Federer during a mixed doubles match.
SWITZERLAND: Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic. (Getty)
Federer, regarded as the GOAT (greatest of all time), had a stellar 2017 after capturing the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles. Bencic joked after they beat Sugita and Osaka in mixed doubles at the Hopman Cup that the Swiss ace looks like he is in even better form this season!
BELGIUM: Elise Mertens and David Goffin. (Getty)
Mertens already has an affinity with Australia after winning her maiden WTA tour title at the Hobart International in 2017. Goffin also had a memorable season, with the World No.7 accounting for both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals.
UNITED STATES: Coco Vandeweghe and Jack Sock. (Getty)
Vandeweghe pushed her way into the Top 10 on the WTA tour after taking on Australian tennis legend Pat Cash as her coach. Sock is another part of Generation Next and has already entertained the Hopman Cup crowd after giving away his socks to some cheeky Aussie fans who asked for them.
