France, US At 1-1 In Hopman Cup

JO-WILFRIED Tsonga of France held off big-serving John Isner to win 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 and level the Group B tie against the United States in the Hopman Cup at 1-1.

The US led after world No.12 Sloane Stephens beat Alize Cornet 7-5 6-0 at Perth Arena, overcoming an early challenge to win in 103 minutes.
But the 10th-ranked Tsonga repeated his win over Isner from last summer's Hopman Cup. Isner holds a 3-1 advantage over the Frenchman in ATP matches, however.
The mixed doubles is still to be played.
Stephens said she was happy with her performance.
"It's not often I win a set 6-0, so I was proud of myself for that. I stayed tough," Stephens said.
"I tried to up my game a bit in the second set to stick into her a little bit.

"I tried to stay solid and stick to my patterns. It worked out well." Cornet said she was disappointed to falter at key times in the second set.

"The first set was very good from both of us," Cornet said.
"Even the second set was quite good.
"I had a lot of game points but I didn't make any of them. That killed me in the second set." The US are in a good position to win a record seventh straight Hopman Cup.
But Australia's title drought will stretch into a 16th year after this summer's pairing of Bernard Tomic and Sam Stosur slumped to losses against Canada and Italy.