Top seed Russia snuck into the mixed teams Hopman Cup final with a win over France in their final Group A tie in Perth yesterday.
Beaten by Australia in their first tie, the Russians needed to win 3-0 to reach the final at the expense of the French, and managed to do so despite an injury scare for Nadia Petrova.
Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov both won their singles matches in straight sets to secure the tie, and then beat the French pairing of Tatiana Golovin and Jerome Haehnel in straight sets in the mixed doubles to win their way through to today's final.
Whichever team won the mixed doubles would play in the final, but the Russians were always in control and won 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour.
It is the first time the Russians have reached the final and they will play either India, Spain or the Czech Republic.
The French won their first two ties and had been the only unbeaten team in Group A, but their decision to forfeit the mixed doubles on the opening night ultimately hurt their chances of reaching the final.
Although both the French and Russians won two ties, the Russians advanced as they had won more matches.
Florent Serra out
Defending Adelaide International champion Florent Serra is out of the tournament after retiring during the third set of his match against fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon at Memorial Drive in Adelaide, Australia, yesterday.
Serra had just broken back to to level the match at 5-7, 6-2, 1-1 in the third set when he withdrew with illness, allowing Sweden's Joachim Johansson to go through to the quarter-finals, having beaten Simon in their meeting on Wednesday.
The withdrawal highlighted heatwave conditions endured by the players here this week, with temperatures reaching 37?C in the city during the afternoon.
Martina Hingis impresses
Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis showed she would be a major player at this year's Australian Open as she cruised into the semi-finals of the Australian Women's Hardcourt championships yesterday.
Hingis, who made her comeback at this tournament last year, was clinical as she dispatched Colombia's Catalina Castano 6-3, 6-1 in 68 minutes.
She now faces unseeded Italian Tathiana Garbin in today's semi-finals following Garbin's 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia's Elena Vesnina.
Jankovic advances
Top seed Jelena Jankovic stepped up a gear yesterday to easily dispose of former champion Eleni Daniilidou and book a place in the semi-finals of the Auckland Classic.
Jankovic ended her Greek opponent's hopes of being the first three-time winner of the US$145,000 tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
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