Great Britain miss out on Hopman Cup final after Australia Green defeat France in Perth
GREAT BRITAIN were denied a place in Saturday's Hopman Cup final as Australia Green edged out France in a tense finish.
Great Britain missed out on a place in the Hopman Cup final
Andy Murray and Heather Watson had put pressure on Australia by beating Germany 3-0 in Perth.
But Nick Kyrgios comfortably defeated Kenny De Schepper and after Daria Gavrilova lost to Caroline Garcia she pulled off a brilliant volley to save a French match point in the mixed doubles and they won three points in a row to clinch victory.
Their 11-9 success was a repeat of the deciding tie-break they won against Britain on Wednesday, which ultimately proved the difference between the sides.
Watson had claimed a notable scalp with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki, while Murray held his part of the bargain, seeing off highly-rated teenager Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4. The British pair went on to win the mixed doubles by the same scoreline.
Great Britain secure 3-0 round robin Hopman Cup win [AMBIENT]
Murray now heads to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open, which starts a week on Monday, while Watson flies to Tasmania to defend her second WTA Tour title in Hobart.
British No 2 Aljaz Bedene is into the Chennai Open semi-finals after beating India's Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
And defending champion Roger Federer is into the Brisbane International semi-finals after beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.