France are one win away from claiming the Fed Cup title after Kristina Mladenovic broke Australian hearts with a stunning 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) win over world No.1 Ashleigh Barty in Perth.

Barty’s 15-match Fed Cup winning streak came crashing to a halt as Mladenovic mounted a lion-hearted comeback to prevail in two hours and 31 minutes and put France up 2-1 in the best-of-five rubbers final.

The loss means Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic must defeat Caroline Garcia in Sunday’s second reverse singles match to force a doubles decider.