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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga leapt into the new season in Perth Francesca Schiavone represented Italy with Andreas Seppi Serbia���s Ana Ivanovic and Djokovic were considered the pair to beat Venus Williams made her Hopman Cup debut Medina Garrigues deserved both of the diamond-encrusted tennis balls awarded to the winners. ���I need to give her my ball. She won almost all her matches here in the singles and all the mixed doubles, (so) she is the winner. She did a great job,��� he said. What made the performance of Medina Garrigues more remarkable is her confession to her partner prior to the tournament that she was thinking of withdrawing due to a back problem. A week of intense physiotherapy allowed her to take to the court for what she said was a career highlight. The Serbians were understandably disappointed but there is a silver lining from the result, at least for Western Australian fans. Both Djokovic and Ivanovic are desperate to win the Hopman www.itftennis.com Cup for Serbia and vowed to return to Perth in coming years. ���We were so close but I really hope that Novak will agree to play with me again,��� Ivanovic said. Djokovic, at least, was a winner at the ball and certainly deserved to celebrate after finishing 2012 as world No. 1 for the second year in succession. ���I love coming back here to Perth. It���s a beautiful tournament. I enjoyed it. I truly did,��� he said. Others to star at what is recognised as a society night in the Western Australian capital were Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who tangoed on stage with the entertainer Marcia Hines, while Lucy Hopman attended every major event and social function at the tournament held in honour of her late husband, Harry Hopman. Events earlier in the week had the veteran Williams wishing she had come to Perth years ago. She was the star female performer for the week when unbeaten in singles, but her chance at winning the Hopman Cup for the United States was cruelled when John Isner had to withdraw with a knee injury that forced him out of the Australian summer. Tsonga and Tomic, who upset Djokovic with a performance that thrilled the 14,500 fans in attendance, were the dominant male performers for the week, with both winning their three singles. After a troubled 2012, Tomic was able to win back some fans with the brilliance of his play and held hopes it was the beginning of a new chapter in his career. Just a week later, he claimed his first tournament win in the Sydney International. ITFWORLD SPRING 2013 31