Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic helped Australia to qualify for the final of the Hopman Cup in Perth in unusual circumstances.
The hosts needed to beat France 3-0 to ensure they went through ahead of South Africa, but had to settle for a 2-1 victory after having lost the mixed doubles.
However, South Africa also had to be content with a 2-1 win in their match against Zimbabwe because injury to Wayne Ferreira meant they could not play the mixed doubles.
Consequently, Australia qualified on their overall record and will play Sweden, Switzerland, or defending champions Slovakia in the final.
Philippoussis beat Guillaume Raoux 6-1, 6-2 in just 44 minutes after 15-year-old Dokic had disposed of world No.14 Sandrine Testud 6-1, 6-3.
Philippoussis said he was inspired by the form of Dokic. ''I wanted to produce something
special so that it could be remembered,'' Philippoussis said. ''I came out positive, got the early break, and just kept the pressure on.''
Dokic stunned Testud in much the same way as she dispatched Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario a day earlier.
Ferreira strained a groin muscle when leading Wayne Black 7-5, 4-1 in the all-African encounter. He held on to win 7-5, 7-6 but could not appear in the mixed.
Switzerland's Martina Hingis defeated the USA's Lindsay
Davenport 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
qZimbabwe's Byron Black has said that he expected
Australia's Jason Stoltenberg would be out for revenge for a Davis Cup upset when they meet in the quarter-finals of the
Australian men's hardcourt championships in Adelaide.
''He needs some (revenge),'' fifth-seed Black said after he had reached the last eight with a 6-3, 6-2 second-round win against Romania's Andrei Pavel in a match interrupted by rain.
Black and his brother Wayne delivered one of the major upsets of the 1998 Davis Cup, bundling Australia out 3-2 in the first round before a surprised home crowd in Mildura.
Fourth-seed Stoltenberg played down the prospect of a grudge match in their first encounter since that Davis Cup result in April. However, he conceded that victory would be sweet. ''It'd be nice to get a little payback but it's not on my mind,'' Stoltenberg said after his strong serve had carried him to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Italy's Gianluca Pozzi.
q Yevgeny Kafelnikov was beaten in three sets by Hicham Arazi (Morocco) in the Qatar Open in Doha, while Cedric
Pioline beat Javier Sanchez in straight sets.
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