Roger Federer, Belinda Bencic lead Switzerland to Hopman Cup tennis title

Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic won the deciding Fast4 mixed doubles tie against Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber to give Switzerland its third Hopman Cup.

Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic won the deciding Fast4 mixed doubles 4-3 (3), 4-2 Saturday over Germany to give Switzerland its third Hopman Cup title.

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland returns to Angelique Kerber of Germany during their women's singles final match on day eight of the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth on Saturday. (AFP)

Federer rebounded from a close first-set loss to dominate the rest of the match in a 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-2 win over Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber beat Bencic 6-4, 6-1 to send the championship to the mixed doubles decider. It was Kerber’s fourth straight singles win at the Hopman Cup this year.

Switzerland last won the Hopman Cup in 2001 when Federer teamed with Martina Hingis.

“She (Hingis) had a great career and to have that in a small country like Switzerland is very rare,” Federer said after Switzerland’s latest triumph.

“It made me also believe with hard work and dedication you get really far because I didn’t believe that much at that point when I was younger, I thought it was more all talent.”

The long drought continues for Germany, which last won the Hopman Cup in 1995 with Boris Becker and Anke Huber. In 1993, Steffi Graf and Michael Stich gave Germany its first title.