Roger Federer’s hopes of winning a second Hopman Cup crown rests with the Fast4 mixed doubles after his teammate Belinda Bencic lost her singles match.

Federer gave Switzerland a perfect start in the final against Germany by coming from a set down to beat world No.4 Alexander Zverev 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-2 on Saturday night.

But former world No.1 and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber levelled the tie for Germany with a 6-4 6-1 thumping of Bencic in a match that lasted just 63 minutes.

In Fast4 doubles, the first team to four games wins the set.

If the scores in a set are level at 3-3, then a first-to-five tiebreaker is played.

Federer was just 19 when he won the Hopman Cup in 2001, alongside then world No.1 Martina Hingis.

Since then, he’s won a record 19 grand slams to cement himself as a legend of the sport.

Federer paid tribute to the influence Hingis had on paving the way for his decorated career.

“She had a great career and to have that in a small country like Switzerland is very rare,” Federer said.

“I could look up to her and think, ‘Wow, how is she being so mentally strong and so consistent at such a young age and I can’t do that yet in practice and in the matches, let alone week in week out’

“It made me also believe with hard work and dedication you get really far, because I didn’t believe that much at that point when I was younger, I thought it was more all talent.”