The historic Wimbledon marathon match won by John Isner over Nicolas Mahut this year will be rerun January 3 at the Hopman Cup when France play the United States in the eight-nation, mixed-team competition.

The 132nd-ranked Mahut was added to the field for France, replacing Gael Monfils. He is to play alongside Kristina Mladenovic. Isner is teamed up with Melanie Oudin.

Mahut lost the longest match ever played in tennis, a 70-68 fifth set against Isner in the first round of Wimbledon last summer. It took more than 11 hours over three days to complete.

Cup founder Paul McNemee is hoping that perhaps history could somehow repeat itself at his tournament. "That Wimbledon match was an epic in every sense of the word, so it will long be remembered," the former Wimbledon doubles champion said. "I'm now looking forward to watching these guys battle it out in Perth."

Mahut and Isner are to square off at the Burswood Dome. Monfils, who played in the Davis Cup final, is out with knee pain and has been ordered by doctors to rest for a month.

"I was looking forward to participating in the Hopman Cup for the first time," he said in a statement. "I sincerely hope that I will have the opportunity to play there in the near future."

Other leading men in the field at the mixed event are Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, third and fourth on the ATP, along with Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt.

Former number one Justine Henin is to play for Belgium.

The teams are:

US - Melanie Oudin, John Isner Belgium - Justine Henin, Ruben Bemelmans Serbia - Ana Ivanovic, Novak Djokovic France - Kristina Mladenovic, Nicolas Mahut Kazakhstan - Yaroslava Shevedova, Andrey Golubev Italy - Francesca Schiavone, Potito Starace Australia - Alicia Molik, Lleyton Hewitt Great Britain - Laura Robson, Andy Murray

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الموضوع الاصلى : Wimbledon marathon reset for Hopman Cup as Mahut enters المصدر :منتدياتالأكام الكاتب: الأمير

الموضوع الاصلى : Wimbledon marathon reset for Hopman Cup as Mahut enters المصدر :منتدياتالأكام الكاتب: NiCe ~ GiRL