Dutch qualifiers face U.S. in Hopman Cup final

The Netherlands reached the final of the Hopman Cup on Thursday after an injury to Nicolas Kiefer gave the qualifiers a 3-0 victory over Germany [Images].

Their opponents will be the United States, who topped their group despite losing 2-1 to Sweden and will compete in the final for the eighth time.

Michaella Krajicek earned a 6-4 7-6 victory for the Netherlands over Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who was also hampered by injury.

Kiefer, suffering from back spasms, then withdrew, and under competition rules the Netherlands were awarded the men's singles and mixed doubles 6-0 6-0.

The Netherlands became the third country to reach the final after winning a playoff match for a place in the main draw, following Slovakia and Thailand. Slovakia defeated France [Images] to win the 1998 title, and Thailand fell to South Africa in 2000.

"It's awesome, it's great," said Krajicek on reaching the final. "We hadn't expected this. We had to win our first match against China and were a little bit nervous there, but we made it and followed with some good matches."

Peter Wessels was disappointed that he was not able to test himself against Kiefer, but drew some positives from receiving walkovers in the two matches he would have played.

"On one hand, I was a little bit disappointed because I wanted to see how I was going to do against him because I think he was the best player in the group," said Wessels.

"On the other hand, I'm happy with a day's rest. I was pretty tired with eight or nine matches in five days."

The United States began the day as favourites over Sweden, but Lisa Raymond slumped 2-6 6-2 6-4 against Sofia Arvidsson, and Thomas Johansson took advantage of an inconsistent Taylor Dent to beat the American 7-6 2-6 6-3.

Johansson, who has been suffering from a foot infection and received treatment on his hip and shoulder as he played Dent, then withdrew and the mixed doubles rubber was awarded to the United States 6-0 6-0.

Serbia & Montenegro took second place in the U.S. group after beating Russia [Images] 2-1.

Ana Ivanovic lost 6-1 6-4 to Svetlana Kuznetsova, but Novak Djokovic humbled Yuri Schukin 6-0 6-2 and then teamed with Ivanovic to win the mixed doubles 6-2 7-6.

© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.