Italy Down France In Hopman Cup

France won the opening rubber when Alize Cornet beat Pennetta 7-5 6-2 but Bolelli squared the tie at 1-1 with victory over Gilles Simon.

Flavia Pennetta and Simone Bolelli joined forces on Tuesday to steer Italy to a 2-1 win over France at the Hopman Cup in Perth.

France 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 today," Bolelli said in a courtside interview.

France, who opened their Group B round-robin stage with victory over Taiwan, also remain in contention.

"Congratulations to the Italians. They were really good today," Cornet said.

"We're disappointed of course but it's okay, we still have our chance to go in finals so we will try our best in two days."

Australia were due to play Slovakia in a Group A tie in Tuesday's evening session.

The winners of the two groups will contest Friday's final.