Russia, Slovak Republic advance to Hopman Cup final

Jan 8, 2009 - 3:41 PM PERTH, Australia (Ticker) -- Russian siblings Marat Safin and Dinara Safina will face the Slovak Republic tandem Dominik Hrbaty and Dominika Cibulkova for the Hopman Cup title.

Safin and his younger sister rolled to a perfect 3-0 mark in Group B at the dual-gender international event, capping the run with a 2-1 win over France on Thursday.

Safina got Russia off to a good start with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alize Cornet in the opening rubber, but France leveled things when Gilles Simon beat Safin 7-6, 6-3.

The Russians bounced back, however, clinching their spot in Friday's final with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the mixed doubles.

Slovakia's winner-take-all tie with Germany for the Group A title was far less eventful.

After Cibulkova put the Slovaks ahead with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over Sabine Lisicki, Germany was forced to concede the tie when Nicolas Kiefer was injured in the first set of his match with Hrbaty.

Kiefer was leading 3-1 on serve when he rolled his ankle during a volley, and subsequently left the court in a wheelchair.

"It's really bad luck for him in the first tournament of the year," said Hrbaty, who teamed with Cibulkova to finish 3-0 in Group A. "He was working really hard, played well in the matches before and I hope he will be OK.

"But I'm still happy that we are in the final. We will do everything we can to win now."

The United States team of James Blake and Meghann Shaughnessy played out the string in Group A earlier in the day, earning a win over Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and Casey Dellacqua.

The U.S. finished 1-2 at the event, unable to retain the title won last year by the duo of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish.

Italy (2-1) kept its hopes in Group B alive earlier Thursday as Simone Bolelli and Flavia Pennetta sent Chinese Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu Su-Wei Hsieh to an 0-3 finish.

Russia's win over France (1-2), however, ended any chance of a tiebreaker determining the group winner.