By Kim Douglass
©dailyworldtrends.com

(December 13, 2010) Gael Monfils was forced to drop out of the 2011 Hopman Cup due to a knee injury.


In a statement on the tournaments website, a disappointed Monfils said,

“I was looking forward to participating in the Hopman Cup for the first time...I sincerely hope that I will have the opportunity to play there in the near future.”


In his place, fellow French man Nicolas Mahut will take on American John Isner in their first match up since their 183-game during Wimbledon.


Organizers also announced that the world ranked No.132 will partner with Kristina Mladenovic to repsresent the unseed France.


Fans will undoubtedly be hoping for a repeat of Isner and Mahuts record breaking tennis match, played over 11 hours and five minutes with the fifth set decided 70-68, in the first round of this year's Wimbledon men's singles championship

“This was an epic match at Wimbledon in every sense of the word, which will always be remembered,” said tournament director Paul McNamee in the same statement.


Because France is unseeded, there will be no change to the tournament draw.


GROUP A:

1) SERBIA – Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic
3) BELGIUM – Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans
AUSTRALIA – Alicia Molik and Lleyton Hewitt
KAZAKHSTAN – Yaroslava Shvedova and Andrey Golubev
GROUP B:

2) GREAT BRITAIN – Laura Robson and Andy Murray
4) ITALY – Francesca Schiavone and Potito Starace
FRANCE – Kristina Mladenovic and Nicolas Mahut
USA – Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John Isner