Serbia and Montenegro has kept alive its Hopman Cup chances with a battling 2-1 win over Sweden at Perth's Burswood Dome.

The team of world No.16 Ana Ivanovic and little-known 18-year-old Novak Djokovic clinched the deciding doubles rubber 6-2 6-4 over Swedish pair Thomas Johansson and Sofia Arvidsson.

The unseeded Serbians needed to win the match after losing to No.2 seed America 2-1 on Sunday.

Djokovic's outstanding court coverage proved a major asset in the mixed doubles, although it nearly proved his downfall.

He was forced to call an injury timeout after appearing to strain the left side of his left knee trailing 1-0 in the second set.

But Djokovic had the problem strapped and fought out the remainder of the match.

There were three consecutive service breaks early in the first set, before Djokovic held to open a 4-2 lead.

A blistering Ivanovic forehand winner down the line then left Johansson stranded and gave Serbia and Montenegro a break point on Arvidsson's service game, which was converted for a double break.

Arvidsson then served out the set 6-2.

Sweden held serve to commence the second set, before Djokovic called his injury timeout.

It caused him little trouble after the break, however, and the Serbians won five of the next six games to blow the set open.

Sweden fought on, breaking Ivanovic's serve and holding to close to 5-4, but Djokovic sealed the win on serve.

Earlier, Ivanovic swept past world No.67 Arvidsson 6-3 6-1 in just 51 minutes.

Former Australian Open champion Johansson then forced the deciding match with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) triumph over Djokovic, before Serbia clinched the doubles.

"I thought Ana would not talk to me anymore when I lost my singles," Djokovic joked.

"But I'm really happy we won our first (doubles) match together."

Johansson, who carried a foot infection into the tie, admitted he had had a little trouble backing up from his singles win.

"I felt okay," he said.

"I was a little bit tired when Novak made me run.

"For the doubles I was pretty tired, but they played a good match and we have to focus on Wednesday (against Russia)."

Djokovic didn't think the knee injury would affect him during the tournament.

"It's okay," he said.

"I felt a little pain, but it's going to be okay."

On Tuesday, top seed Russia commences its Hopman Cup campaign against the US, prior to Australia's must-win clash against the Netherlands.

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