Roger Federer/Belinda Bencic v Serena Williams/Frances Tiafoe | FULL MATCH | USA v SUI | Hopman Cup

play it's on from the opening point well good movement from serena here at the net she's prepared to get involved right from the get-go oh what a start to this contest 1500 drama already in the opening couple of points i was a little lucky off the the throat there to get that one in then roger really should have put that one away [Applause] [Music] well that's pretty obvious that that was a bit of a shocker and they're there in may like the difference casey that's what you talked about he being francis is going to get a lot of balls directed at him yeah his volleys were a little bit rusty the other night in the previous mixed doubles but let's hope they improve from that one so too 14. [Applause] slipped it up the middle and opening game to america well a good start in a sense that we saw the doubles player on the american team in serena get involved quickly didn't we yeah absolutely she was really close to the net feet were going very explosive looking to help tfo out when he obviously made a good serve but yeah lots of involvement serena which we would expect being the doubles player she is okay there's a bit of a in-house here i think about whether roger we'll see how it plays out well that was a statement on that second serve look how far inside the court serena was [Applause] oh what a shot from tiapa well that was class all around wonderfully controlled dipping return but look at this pick up easy that half volley was from federer but he hugs the middle and what a lovely flick cross court here today what's interesting here in the mix we talked about this uh the other day when we did a mixed together case is that sometimes in the mix it's easier for the woman if the man hits it hard and flat on serve whereas roger is just really using the cat spin isn't he yeah i always feel that pace and for someone like serena pace isn't a problem it's the movement of the ball it's the kick it's a slice it's into the body those are the ones that trouble players and especially female players because we just don't see that type of movement on the ball the hard and fast ones can potentially sometimes be a little bit easier to handle plenty of anticipation for this serve fifteen [Applause] [Music] christmases thank you well average forehand topspin speeds today just 1k less for serena oh she was out after that one 194 even roger turn to look at the clock [Applause] well that was a very very good second serve that was better than good i think yeah [Applause] well it's a challenge it's a bit of a late one but it's uh going to get reviewed two of the greatest spot servers the game's ever seen both finding their spots hitting them with unnerving accuracy good start by the american team and now this is a crucial game about to come on the serve of belinda bentich [Music] someone's already a winner [Applause] [Applause] the pendulum of pressure swings to the swiss team with benchit serving okay so i'm not sure how you felt when you're playing mixture when you're serving but as the male when i was on court i was thought always thought it was crucial that my partner the female made of first server didn't matter the pace to me so much it was just the pressure i could help more on a first serve than i could on the second and so it's crucial here for linda [Music] just like that there to get a free point every now and then and let roger be seen it's exactly the one thing as the female that you need to make a priority when you are playing mixed doubles is like you said not necessarily big first serves just good placement and get your male counterpart involved at the net roger trying to make himself as low as possible there so that he knew benchitch wanted to find the angle [Applause] uh [Applause] [Music] you watch serena here she doesn't watch the path of the ball she keeps her eyes stuck forward in court so she had no idea where that ball was going so couldn't actually flow with the doubles point where she watched roger he he looks behind and watches the flow of the balls a little bit more instinctive because of that fourteen [Applause] [Applause] yeah that must feel good when you get a little pat on the back from roger i thought here she could potentially could have even gone down through the middle a bit more or potentially at serena's feet a little bit more but reflexes were spot-on played a great next volley electrifying 15. it's interesting isn't it in a way because you can see the team switzer paying respect to serena by targeting the volleying of trfo [Applause] nearly put a dent in serena's ambitions for australia i think [Applause] well these things are all about timing watch roger he takes a little side step he reads where the racket head is of tiarfo he's off early so much so that he gets that one on the forehand but it's the way he moves forward to cover the net that is the important part 15. [Applause] she takes a little jump to a right educated guess look at this 15 14. two break points switzerland forehand there from tiapo and switzerland get the upper hand better after the sit-down will serve for the opening set switzerland leads three games to two so the americans have got to fashion up a break a serve here otherwise this opening set in this fast four format will get away from them [Applause] deceptively quick at times isn't it you can't really read that it's going to come through as fast as that well i think he you know through through that hit zone sometimes he hits it flatter other times he spins it more and it's very hard to pick that up you know at that last moment as he accelerates through contact [Applause] it's another above 100 mile an hour second serve from federer giving serena's returns the respect that they're due but he's coming out on top of the moment as our switzerland with three set points [Music] [Applause] once again coming to the party effectively well that set played out probably how we thought it might in a way i mean roger to the back end started to dominate a little bit but francis yeah the fella can't lose sir it's the ultimate sin of mixed doubles casey yeah we spoke about it didn't we talk about how important holding the female serve is but in this case francis obviously lost his serve which clearly is why they lost this first set but really compose good composed tennis from belinda particularly she just made a little bit of a difference there in the end with that return across her body which won them that game and then even in this last game just being composed enough to take volleys on and she is a really solid uh mixed doubles player out there when you watch roger like that you wonder you know had he decided to play a lot more doubles at major level how many he would have won i played in the era as you did uh mark with pete sampras different league in terms i played a lot pete was a chipper of returns didn't have the quality of returning that roger possesses and but this man it just would have been endless wouldn't it i would have put my hand up to play with him everyone i mean it you you look at how sparingly he plays doubles and how good he is and how instinctive he is at the movement of the net to cover the middle and keep going you look at him at the labour cup i mean you know it's phenomenal that he's lost none of his ability to see the options and the angles out there on a doubles court as well [Music] usa up against it here down a set to switzerland in the deciding mixed doubles oh well you can't quite take the full line up the line there casey got to ask you is there an argument here that serena should have served first well i was just about to bring that up and wanted to see what your thoughts were but if it was me i would have almost preferred to see serena serving first three of us agree oh a couple reasons i've done both of francis's match his first percentage has not been great and puts a lot of pressure on this one coming but also serena as we mentioned has such a good first serve you know it's the best serve in women's tennis it's equal to many of the men serves on tour and that's when the fella at net can do his work it's it's really easy for for francis to get in there and just you know knock off a few simple volleys yeah and i also felt at the end of serena's singles match she really found rhythm on her serve so i would go with that makes a difference if you get the first one in though okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] well that was a bit loose from blender she had plenty of time to keep that one in and pepper right location todd yeah there's nothing wrong with the middle especially if people haven't played together much before [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh oh [Applause] right on the chest sorry buddy [Music] oh [Applause] not sure whether that was because that was so heavy and so much spin and it propped or tommy just out all together for tiafoe 30-15 fourteen [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] such great push from his legs federer you look at the lift he gets up off the court from that platform stance that's what they almost look like okay do i rip it at serena and then there was a hesitation and changed his mind and went to take it back through the center i think i think for me that was where that error came from oh 15. serena there looking like she was just hanging on to her right shoulder a little bit i've contest with benchitch earlier she wasn't hanging under anything on that serve just a little long but 192 kilometers an hour well that's what the crowd came to see didn't they a beautiful cross court rally there from serena against roger roger back to serena roger not making any headway against serena so decided i hit it at the net player and got his reward turtle can you see roger talking to belinda he's coaching her through it isn't he coaching in a way of like okay this is what we're going to do there's a real strategy planned to the coaching and they did it on change of ends belinda moved over to sit closer to roger and they spoke through the whole change of ends it's essential in any good doubles combination to be able to talk and communicate oh just a bit too big on the swing in the volley i used to communicate a lot with my partners so much so that they used to turn off and not listen anymore but they knew that it was good for me to get it out for service oh a couple of misses from benches say that she'll be a little bit disappointed by it and the americans survived bit of pressure on their serve a big service game coming up here for melinda benticic well i'd like to see serena get a second serve here and just hammer it down rogers line really take him on oh he's got him the tournament director nelly died of a heart attack not not just the one here in perth no the one in melbourne yeah tv executives and everyone i'll tell you what the payback was swift fortunately that was just a glance on the side of the head if it got an eye or something else and that's your turn i think it was serena saying happy new year oh [Applause] [Music] still holding onto his ear there it's spinning uh double the size right now you gotta expect to be hitting doubles yeah just a little bit of pressure here now on belinda in this game [Applause] thank you no that all comes from roger moving at net and being so involved because the returner starts to take their eye off the ball and you get a bit early or you can be a bit late whichever it may be but it becomes because you look up too early took a little step on telfo's uh service game serena certainly did it there didn't she she almost said to not only move but she almost had a racket back just waiting for her great point for the americans use this he narrows the court so well doesn't he fed her at the net with his movement there and tiafa was trying to thread it past him but he had his eyes todd was saying off the ball of course this is a deciding point here lady to lady or men to men if they were serving so uh bench itch to serena williams nice that might have been like match point right there well that was a very very critical point in regards to the outcome of this match absolutely what a response bench it's rising to the occasion there was a bit of pressure on the it was the loosest that she's played so far in the mixed doubles in the last couple of games but uh she's rescued the situation i think federer was pretty happy with that that one as well oh well he's been waiting for his opportunity casey to do it yeah right time and it is a good play to go directly obviously i serena's racket's out in front she's ready for it but it's still a very difficult shot to play 15-00 [Applause] not a million miles away well there's just a few points in the last couple of games that have become very important that linda has just either missed or made the wrong decision or just a step too slow but every point you can feel in this fast four short sets format is becoming very crucial [Applause] just too much wrist action in there from serena so much pace on the ball she just needed to put string on it guide it 40 50. [Applause] well i actually can't believe she's missed that deciding point [Applause] three miss volleys in this game from serena and it's the americans under pressure on their serve this time [Music] they survive and swiss usa a bit of work to do in this second set still oh they're serving to take it into the tiebreaker oh [Applause] [Applause] um [Music] again there you can see just a little bit of stiffness in that right shoulder and a bit of tightness on the scoreboard [Applause] first of five points there'll be two serves coming up here from serena williams followed by two from belinda bentich and so forth we get two uh three apiece then and the next two points are split there'll be a third service point by the current server at that stage good play yeah almost the best movement from tiapo we've seen throughout the match zero usa just see he was expecting this one to come to him but then to be prepared to move for the next one roger just explaining the rules to to everyone good shot saw the space open out a bit of damage limitation attempted there by federer such as the fear of feather across him that serena was trying to take him out of the picture by hitting it up high yes that was that result the unforced error was a result of federer's movement there at the net and again belinda just so solid from her corner and roger helping her out there at the net creating an error from the racket of tfo so both teams just stopping for a brief pit stop there as they change ends it's a single session record here at the uh mastercard hotman cup as you can see at the bottom right there 14 064 fans crammed into the rac perth arena and i don't think one person has left their seat for this mixed doubles match have they three two usa serena this time with a good move what i said wow not a great serve it seemed like a great surf in the end it was a fantastic hawkeye challenge one millimeter good young eyes from federer belinda ever stop moving he is perpetual motion isn't he and it is very much advantage the swiss now because roger federer has three service points to come [Applause] [Music] [Applause] four three switzerland match point for the swiss to get the victory over the americans it's done in such style well they have you both on the same court at the same time in a live match like that is something special not just for everybody in the house but for everybody around the world serena what was that experience like for you well it was a great experience i'm kind of sad it's over you know i was just warming up hey i'm sure the folks here will let us come back out and play some more [Applause] no it was it was so fun and i you know this is like i said before it's something that as growing up and and what as we grew up together really just watching and having an opportunity after all these years we've actually never done this so this is super cool that we get to do it at such a pinnacle point in both our careers and for me it was super cool like i've literally like wanted to take pictures and i want to bring my baby out i'm like way too excited but it was it was really fun roger what stood out for you about coming up against serena uh in her game well i was nervous returning because because you just don't know but people talk about her surf so much and i see why it is such a wonderful serve because you just can't read it you don't see until they're very jars either well we have the same qualities you know but yours is a bit better but uh no it's true but anyway for me it was a bit nerve-wracking too to be honest because all of a sudden you're serving especially the last serve at three all i'm like i gotta win this point but it's serena williams i was telling myself and i was telling myself this is maybe what i've always wanted maybe a big time moment like this and i made the serve but i actually totally missed the target and thank you for missing the ball but uh it was a it was a great great great fun and um yeah great champion you see how focused and determined she is and i love that about her and then what and for you serena to answer that same question to come out against roger you've watched a lot of his play what stood out against playing the ball that he delivers well i mean the guy is great i mean he's the greatest of all time to be honest and [Music] both on the court and off the court and he has such charisma he's just wonderful player um i think um i mean i'm trying to narrow it down here but you know and i don't know if this is the right thing to say i think his serve is super underestimated he has a killer serve like literally you can't read it like i said you can't read it and there's a reason why he's the greatest because you can't be that great not have such an awesome weapon like that serve so i was really i watched them all the time but i never knew how amazing it was so it was it was really cool to kind of learn hopefully i can get some tips later on on how to how to get to get a little better but it was really impressive i think if you two start giving tips well the rest of the feel and the australian open maze will go home now listen um you did speak to me the other day and said that you wanted to have a selfie with roger and you haven't had that photo so we've got one of our yeah it's going to happen here we go ryder you're in control is it is it on we kind of need our rackets would you like to go get your rackets i'll wait here with the selfie stick while you two go and get your rackets in tv land folks they call this padding while the talent leaves you okay here we go you guys are in control who's going to do that ladies and gentlemen why these two champions take in this moment for themselves would you put your hands together one more time for serena williams and roger federer oh [Applause] you