Britain go great guns

Keep hopes alive with a 3-0 win over Germany at Hopman Cup

Great Britain kept their Hopman Cup hopes alive with a 3-0 win over Germany in their final round robin outing at the mixed teams tournament in Perth on Friday.

The British pairing of Andy Murray and Heather Watson won their respective singles matches against Alexander Zverev and Sabine Lisicki to secure the tie.

Although the mixed doubles was a dead rubber, the couple also needed a win to enhance their chances of reaching Saturday’s final.

They did so in style, winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to complete a clean sweep of the tie.

With two wins from their three round robin outings, Great Britain still needed unbeaten Australia Green to lose their final tie against France on Friday evening.

In the women’s singles tie, Watson showed she would be a dangerous opponent in Melbourne with her second win in succession, against Lisicki.

Former Wimbledon finalist Lisicki is on the comeback trail but couldn’t match her opponent’s consistency.

Ranked 32 in the world, the Germand had three break points at 0-40 when Watson served for the match in the second set, but the world number 55 claimed the final five points in succession to complete a 6-3, 6-4 win.