France beats Spain, advances to Hopman Cup final

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France beats Spain, advances to Hopman Cup final

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France reached Hopman Cup final after a thrilling performance.

05 January,2012 07:59 pm

Richard Gasquet finished off Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4 on his fifth match point Thursday to secure a 2-0 victory over Spain.Marion Bartoli gave the French a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series when she beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-4 in the womens singles and Gasquet ensured France would finish at the top of Group B when he fended off Verdasco. The doubles match was scrapped.France last reached the final of the international mixed-team competition in 1998, when Mary Pierce and Cedric Pioline lost to Slovakia.Bartoli, a 2007 Wimbledon finalist, has had two straight-set wins in singles against Australia and Spain after losing a tight three-set opener to Li Na.Im hoping this kind of level will take me far this year, Bartoli said. I had a good season in 2011 but I want to get even better in 2012.The Australian team of Lleyton Hewitt and Jarmila Gajdisova won for the first time with a 2-1 victory over China, which finished the tournament with three losses in Group B.Li gave China the lead when she beat Gajdisova 6-3, 6-2, but Hewitt leveled with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Wu in mens singles. The Australians combined to win the deciding mixed doubles 8-5 in a pro set.The Group A finalist will be determined Friday, with top-seeded Czech Republic featuring womens No. 2 Petra Kvitova and mens No. 7 Tomas Berdych favored to advance. The Czech pair need to beat a Denmark team containing No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and Frederik Nielsen to progress.Gasquet has won all three of his singles matches and said hes confident ahead of Saturdays final.Its very good for me to play these kind of guys. They are the best of the world so I am really happy to win, Gasquet said. I am playing good, my serve is good and physical too and Im in no pain, so I hope to win the final. --AP