PERTH, Jan 4: Top seed Russia snuck into the mixed teams Hopman Cup final with a win over France in their final Group A tie here Thursday.

Beaten by Australia in their first tie, the Russians needed to win 3-0 to reach the final at the expense of the French, and managed to do so despite an injury scare for Nadia Petrova.

Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov both won their singles matches in straight sets to secure the tie, and then beat the French pairing of Tatiana Golovin and Jerome Haehnel in straight sets in the mixed doubles to win their way through to Friday's final.

Whichever team won the mixed doubles would play in the final, but the Russians were always in control and won 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour.

It is the first time the Russians have reached the final and they will play either India, Spain or the Czech Republic.

The French won their first two ties and had been the only unbeaten team in Group A, but their decision to forfeit the mixed doubles on the opening night ultimately hurt their chances of reaching the final.

Although both the French and Russians won two ties, the Russians advanced as they had won more matches.

The Russian-born Golovin was philosophical about the loss, with the French a late inclusion in the event following the withdrawal of Germany.

Petrova, who was troubled by an abdominal strain in her singles clash with Golovin, said the Russians thought they had no chance in the tournament after losing their first tie.

Petrova said she would receive treatment and was confident of being fit for the final.

In the women's singles, Petrova overcame her injury setback to beat a disappointing Golovin in straight sets.

The world No.6 has had her share of injury woes and received treatment during, and at the end of, an hour-long first set, but still steamrolled the Frenchwoman in the second set to win 7-6 (7-2) 6-0.

Golovin suffered the injury during the mixed doubles match on Tuesday, but said it wasn't a major concern.

As expected, Tursunov then levelled the tie with an easy straight sets win over Haehnel, 6-1 6-4.

The confident Tursunov, ranked 22nd in the world, had struggled when beaten in both his previous singles matches here, but was too good for the 213th-ranked Haehnel.

In the other Group A tie, Australia beat the United States 2-1, courtesy of a 6-4 7-5 win in the mixed doubles, although it counted for little as neither team could reach the final.

In the women's singles, Molik recovered from a set down to beat Ashley Harkleroad, 3-6 6-4 6-4.

Molik said she was feeling much more confident about her comeback after her form here, which included a win over Petrova.Fish then levelled the tie with a 7-5 7-5 win over Nathan Healey, who had been a late replacement for the injured Mark Philippoussis in the tournament.

Results from the Hopman Cup Singles matches on Thursday:

Mario Ancic (Croatia) beat Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 7-6(2) 6-4; Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Rohan Bopanna (India) 6-2 6-3; Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Sanja Ancic (Croatia) 7-5 6-2; Anabel Medina (Spain) beat Sania Mirza (India) 3-6 6-1 6-3; Mardy Fish (U.S.) beat Nathan Healey (Australia) 7-5 7-5; Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat Jerome Haehnel (France) 6-1 6-4; Alicia Molik (Australia) beat Ashley Harkleroad (U.S.) 3-6 6-4 6-4 Nadia Petrova (Russia) beat Tatiana Golovin (France) 7-6(2) 6-0 —Agencies