Italy revive hopes for final

Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli join forces to steer Italy to a 2-1 win over France.

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PERTH // Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli joined forces to steer Italy to a 2-1 win over France. They won the opening rubber when Alize Cornet beat Pennetta 7-5, 6-2 but Bolelli squared the tie at 1-1 with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Gilles Simon, his first ever win against a player ranked in the world's top 10. The Italians then teamed up to win the deciding mixed doubles encounter 6-4, 7-6 to remain in contention for a place in the final after their loss to Russia on Sunday.

"I think I played almost perfectly ," said Bolelli. France, who opened their Group B round-robin stage with victory over Taiwan, also remain in contention. * Reuters