No. 2 draws Austria

Press, 6 December 1989, Page 41

No. 2 draws Austria

NZPA-AAP Perth New Zealand’s Kelly Evernden, the highest ' ranked men’s tennis player on either side of the Tasman, will clash with the Austrian ace, Thomas Muster, in his first Hopman Cup appearance here later this month. The New Zealanders will have an advantage in the doubles while in the singles Belinda Cordwell, a semi-finalist in this year’s Australian Open, will be favoured to beat Austria's Barbara Paulus in the tournament dedicated to Hopman, a former tennis coaching legend in Australia and the United States. The winner of the New Zealand-Austria clash will play the tournament’s second seed, Spain. ' The Spanish team has the brother and sister duo of the French Open winner, Arantxa, and Emilio Sanchez. But it is the depth of Swedish tennis, dominant on the world circuit in the last decade, which has received a stern challenge by the official draw,

The Swedes have had the misfortune of losing their No 1. woman player, Catarina Lindqvist, and being pitted in the same line of the draw as the United States — the leading seeds in the singles and mixed doubles event. Lindqvist, a semi-finalist with Mikael Pernfors in last year’s event, has not registered a success on the tennis court in recent months and will take a two month rest from the circuit. The tournament organiser, Paul McNamee, contacted Lindqvist’s Federation Cup teammate, Maria Lindstrom, who gladly agreed to partner Pernfors in the event. The two Scandinavians will meet the strong Italian pair of Raffaella Reggi and Paolo Cane in the first match of the tournament. The Italians are seeded seventh and are noted for their doubles success. But whoever wins the first round match will then face the might of the former world men’s No. 1, John McEnroe, and Pam Shriver in the United States team.