Nick
Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova will attempt to end Australia's 17-year
Hopman Cup title drought when they front up in Saturday's final
against Ukraine at Perth Arena.
Australia
Green booked their spot in the decider on Friday night in the most
thrilling of ways - saving a match point in the mixed doubles to
secure a 2-1 tie win over France.
Gavrilova's
volley at the net saved match point during the third set match
tiebreak, before Kyrgios struck the winner to secure the 6-4 2-6 11-9
(match tiebreak) victory.
Had
Australia Green lost the mixed doubles, the Andy Murray-led Great
Britain would have reached the final.
Australia's
only Hopman Cup title came back in 1999, when Mark Philippoussis and
Jelena Dokic took out the crown, beating Swedish pair Jonas Bjorkman
and Asa Carlsson in the final.
The
last time Australia reached the final was in 2003, when Lleyton
Hewitt and Alicia Molik were defeated 3-0 by Serena Williams and
James Blake.
Kyrgios
and Gavrilova haven't lost a mixed doubles match throughout the
tournament, and they're confident they can continue their good form
in the final.
"We've
just got one more to go. One more good effort," Kyrgios said.
"And
if it comes down to the doubles, we'll go out there and do the same
thing.
"I
definitely thought we had a good chance to win the tournament at the
start of the week.
"Dasha's
been playing unbelievable tennis through 2015, and I've been playing
some pretty good tennis too."
Ukraine's
pairing of Elina Svitolina and Alexandr Dolgopolov are yet to win a
mixed doubles during the tournament.
But
they remain unbeaten in the singles.
Dolgopolov
and Kyrgios have never faced off against each other before.
World
No.19 Svitolina holds a 1-0 win-loss advantage over Gavrilova.
After
Friday night's win over France, Gavrilova said it was important her
and Kyrgios did all the right things to prepare for Saturday's final.
"We'll
get food, recover ... the hardest part is going to bed. But I'm just
going to turn my phone off," she said, before Kyrgios quipped
with a smile: "I'm not. I'm just going to watch all the
highlights.
"That
one was one of my favourite tiebreaks I've ever played."
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