10 January,2009 11:45 AM IST | | AFP
The seeds of Slovakia's latest Hopman Cup triumph were sown many years ago on a practice court in Bratislava.
Dominik Hrbaty and Dominika Cibulkova, who upset Russian siblings Dinara Safina and Marat Safin in the mixed teams final, first met each other at their local tennis club in the Slovak capital.
Cibulkova was not even a teenager at the time, but the genial and gifted Hrbaty was an idol of her's and they struck up a long friendship that ultimately led to their successful partnership here.
Hrbaty (31) won the event in 2005 with Daniela Hantuchova, and in the emerging Cibulkova saw a perfect partner for the unique event.
The 19-year-old agreed and it was a fortuitous decision, the pair both winning thrilling three-set singles matches against the Russians yesterday to claim their country's third Hopman Cup.
It turned out to be a match made in Hopman Cup heaven, but Hrbaty admitted he initially needed to convince tournament director Paul McNamee that they deserved a berth in the event.
Hrbaty had dropped well down the rankings after surgery in late 2007 and Cibulkova, now ranked 19, was only just starting to make a name for herself on the tour.
"We have known each other for a long, long time," Hrbaty said. "I watched her growing up at home, at the courts, practising always next to me.
"Somewhere around Wimbledon (last year) I asked Dominika if she would be interested in playing Hopman Cup and she said yes, so I talked to Paul McNamee and tried to convince him.
"It was after my surgeries, Dominika was ranked about 40 or 50, but I told him she was going to be a great player, and he took us."
Hrbaty tipped Cibulkova to remain unbeaten during the tournament in singles and she duly did so, capping a fine week by upsetting the third-ranked Safina in the final to claim one of the biggest scalps of her career.
Cibulkova considered it an honour to play alongside the injury-hit Hrbaty, who has slipped to 250th in the rankings from a career high of 12 and led his country to its first Davis Cup final in 2005.
"I told him I would love to play," Cibulkova recalled.
"He was my idol, I was watching the Davis Cup when they made it to the final and I was there screaming, like today.
"I am so glad to be here with him and to win is an amazing feeling."
Hrbaty, perhaps inspired by the vocal support of his teammate, wound back the clock with some of his singles form here including his win over the 29th-ranked Safin in the final.
He said it was the team spirit of the seventh-ranked Slovaks that enabled them to upset more fancied teams on the way to the title.
"We are very similar, not just with the names but with the fighting spirit also," he said.
"We showed our emotions for our country, for the people, when we played, and they know that we are fighting for them."
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