Australia are one victory away from finishing on top of Group A and claiming a place in the Hopman Cup final after a thrilling 2-1 victory against Spain in Perth.
The host pairing of Ashleigh Barty and Matt Ebden remain unbeaten after coming from one set down to beat David Ferrer and Garbine Muguruza 3-4 (3-5) 4-3 4-3 (5-3) in a tight mixed doubles rubber on Wednesday.
To reach Saturday’s final though, Australia need to beat the tournament favourites German world No.4 Alexander Zverev and world No.2 Angelique Kerber on Friday night.
Barty got Australia off to a strong start against Spain with an impressive 6-3 6-4 victory over two-time grand slam champion Muguruza.
But Ebden was outplayed by 36-year-old former world No.3, Ferrer.
Ferrer jumped on Ebden’s 42 unforced errors to claim the match 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 and level the tie.
Neither Ebden nor Ferrer settled in to the opening set and after six breaks of serve they battled out a tiebreaker that the Spaniard dominated to win 7-1.
Ebden recovered to lead 4-2 in the second set but several missed volleys on crucial points cost him.
Despite some decent form to start the year, Ferrer said he had no intention of going back on his decision to retire during this year.
“I am 100 per cent I will finish my career in Madrid,” he said.
“I am not playing bad. The problem is that I can’t play more than two matches.
“My fitness is not the same; I have great pain. It’s for that my ranking is not there.”
Expectations are building around Barty after her strong start to the summer.
The world No.15 did not drop one service game against Muguruza and produced 15 winners and six aces to claim the first set.
The 22-year-old was very happy with her service game.
“Garbine returns extraordinarily well and I knew I would have to look after my service games,” she said.
“I didn’t really give myself a chance in a lot of her service games, but when I did, I made it count.”
Barty’s also beat France’s Alize Cornet in straight sets earlier in the tournament.
Saturday’s final will most likely feature Switzerland’s defending champion pairing of Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic, who remain unbeaten in Group B.