Poland defeated Australia 2-1 in Perth on Thursday night to edge past Canada and into the final of the Hopman Cup.
The Aussies had already been eliminated after Tuesday’s loss to Italy and were unable to land a 2014 victory from three attempts.
Bernard Tomic did well in his singles match, but another lacklustre effort from Sam Stosur saw the Aussies fall once again after previous defeats to Canada and Italy.
Tomic, preparing to defend his crown at the upcoming Sydney International, walked over Grzegorz Panfil 6-1 6-4.
The young Aussie put the host nation ahead 1-0 by dominating the first set proceedings, losing just three points on serve in 19 minutes against the world No.288.
Stosur’s torrid form on home soil continued against world No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska, losing 3-6 6-4 6-3 in front of 9,789 fans at Perth Arena.
The fomer US Open champ looked good early on as she took the first set, but wasn’t able to keep up the momentum. Stosur lost all three singles match-ups in Perth.
In Thursday’s other head-to-head, Canada landed a comprehensive victory over Italy, 3-0, but were still edged from the final after Polish pair- needing to win just one set in the mixed-doubles- Radwanska and Grzegorz beat out the Stosur-Tomic combination 1-6 7-5 10-8.
Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic cruised through their respective singles match-ups; Bouchard advancing after Flavia Pennetta was forced to withdraw in the first set due to a wrist injury.
Across the country, Llyeton Hewitt advanced to the quarter-final of the Brisbane International after defeating tournament sixth seed Feliciano Lopez.
Hewitt prevailed 7-5 6-3 to book a spot against Romanian qualifier Marius Copil, who managed his second win against a top 20 opponent by beating Frenchman Giles Simon.
The 32-year-old cleaned up a number of unforced errors and made a concentrated effort to target his Spanish opponent’s left-handed play.
Hewitt’s run toward the semis, where he will face either second seed Kei Nishikori or Croatian Marin Cilic should he pass Copil, has been a fairly light. Lopez remains in search for his first win against the Aussie champ and Copil collected just two wins against top 100 players last year.
“I feel I can last as well as anyone on the court and it’s a good sign leading into the Australian Open,” Hewitt said after Thursday’s victory.
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