PERTH (Australia), Jan 7: Germany shocked the United States at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday to end the hopes of the top seeds and holders and move within one tie of the mixed teams tournament final.

Teenager Sabine Lisicki and Nicolas Kiefer continued their impressive run in Group A with a narrow 2-1 win over Meghann Shaughnessy and James Blake, edging the mixed doubles 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.

The German pair, who earlier beat Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and Casey Dellacqua, face the Slovak Republic on Thursday for a place in the final.

Both Germany and the Slovak Republic have won the Hopman Cup twice.

In the women’s singles, Shaughnessy, on the comeback trail after a serious knee injury and still looking a little restricted in her movement, showed greatly improved form to take the first set, but couldn’t maintain her form and was beaten in three sets by the promising Lisicki, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Blake, who was seeking a third title here, then squared the tie with a hard-earned win over the plucky Kiefer in the men’s singles, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-9), 6-4.

The American held two match points in the second set, but Kiefer managed to save both and then won the tie-break to force a decider. Blake broke in the first game of the third set and was able to protect the lead on his own serve, which produced 17 aces, to level the tie.

Results:

Wednesday: Germany bt US 2-1.

Women’s singles: Sabine Lisicki (Germany) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Men’s singles: James Blake (US) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-9), 6-4.

Mixed doubles: Lisicki/Kiefer (Germany) bt Shaughnessy/Blake 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 (match tie-break).

Tuesday: Slovak Republic bt Australia 2-1.

Women’s singles: Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt Casey Dellacqua (Australia) 7-5, 6-2.

Men’s singles: Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (1-7) 6-4.

Mixed doubles: Cibulkova/Hrbaty (Slovakia) bt Dellacqua/Hewitt 6-7, (5-7), 6-3, 10-4 (match tie-break).—AFP