Germany through to Hopman Cup final vs. Switzerland

Angelique Kerber won her singles and contributed heavily in the deciding mixed doubles victory that gave Germany a 2-1 win over Australia and a spot in the Hopman Cup final against Switzerland.

Kerber beat Australia's Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to put Germany within one win of reaching the final against Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic.

But Thanasi Kokkinakis edged Alexander Zverev 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4 in a close tussle to level for Australia, meaning Germany needed to win the doubles to advance.

A Germany loss to Australia in the last of the group matches would have meant three teams ended with 2-1 records, and that would have sent Belgium into Saturday's championship decider at Germany's expense.

Kokkinakis retained momentum in the first set of the doubles, but Kerber remained composed despite a succession of unforced errors from Zverev — and taking the full brunt of a Kokkinakis forehand on her hip — to steer Germany to a 1-4, 4-1, 4-3 (3) in the Fast 4 format.

Zverev praised two-time major winner Kerber's performance, admitting he almost lost the match for Germany.

Germany has won the Hopman Cup twice, but not since Boris Becker and Anke Huber teamed up in 1995.

Earlier, Belgium won its second match and handed Canada its third consecutive defeat with singles victories by David Goffin and Elise Mertens.

Mertens beat Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-4, before Goffin defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-4.

Simon beats top-seeded Cilic in semis of Maharashtra Open

Gilles Simon recovered from a slow start to beat top-seeded Marin Cilic 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Maharashtra Open semifinals on Friday.

It was the 33-year-old Simon's sixth win out of seven ATP Tour matches against the sixth-ranked Cilic, as the Frenchman looks to win his first title since 2015.

Second-seeded Kevin Anderson survived a scare in the other semifinal before beating fourthseeded Benoit Paire 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 6-1 in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Anderson has beaten Simon in all three of their previous meetings, which came on outdoor hard courts — the same surface used at Maharashtra Open.

Siniakova beats Sharapova to reach Shenzhen Open final

Defending champion Katerina Siniakova defeated Maria Sharapova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday in her first meeting with the five-time major winner to reach the final of the Shenzhen Open.

The sixth-seeded Siniakova hit 10 aces to set up a final on Saturday with top-ranked Simona Halep, who beat fourth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-4.

Sharapova, who is set for a return to the Australian Open which starts on Jan. 15, struggled with her serve, double faulting five times. Sharapova missed last year's tournament during a doping ban that dated back to a failed test for meldonium at Melbourne Park in 2016.

In the first semifinal in Shenzhen on Friday, Halep had 15 winners and four service breaks as she maintained her perfect record against her doubles partner, improving to 6-0 against Begu.

Rublev to play Monfils in Doha Open final

Andrey Rublev of Russia saved a match point to reach his second career ATP Tour final with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2) win over Guido Pella of Argentina at the Qatar Open.

The 39th-ranked Rublev has had trouble with his serve throughout the tournament. He posted 11 double faults in Friday's match, and 33 overall in the four matches he's played this week.

The 20-year-old Russian served only two aces against Pella, but the second ace saved him from defeat when facing a match point at 4-5, ad-out, in the third set.

Rublev will play Gael Monfils of France in his quest to win a second career title. As a lucky loser, Rublev won his first career title, in his first career final, at the Umag, Croatia tournament last year.

The 46th-ranked Monfils reached the final without hitting a ball in the semifinals when topseeded Dominic Thiem withdrew from the tournament because of illness.

"Due to some health conditions I have to cancel my start today," Thiem wrote on Facebook. "I am in bed with fever and there is almost no chance of a recovery until tonight.

"Now I am focusing on Melbourne and being fit and prepared for the first Grand Slam of the year."

The fifth-ranked Thiem, the only remaining seeded player in the draw, did not drop a set en route to the semifinals.

Thiem showed signs of illness when he coughed through numerous answers during his quarterfinal post-match press conference on Thursday night.

Monfils is playing in his first tournament since a right knee injury forced him to retire during his U.S. Open third-round match in September.

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