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Caroline Garcia has won both her singles and doubles matches to steer France into the semi-finals of the United Cup in Sydney.
An inspired Caroline Garcia has thrust France into the last four of the United Cup after upstaging Norwegian linchpin Casper Ruud in an epic quarter-final that lasted six-and-a-half hours.
Garcia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin teamed up to score a thrilling 7-5 6-4 win over Ruud and Ulrikke Eikeri in the deciding mixed doubles rubber in Sydney on Thursday night.
Ruud, the highest-ranked player in the tie, had levelled up proceedings with a 6-1 6-4 "revenge" win over Adrian Mannarino in the men's singles after Garcia preserved her unbeaten record for the week with a 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) victory over unfancied Malene Helgo.
Garcia, the world No.20 and the 2022 WTA Finals champion, was made to work for more than two and a half hours before seeing off the 544th-ranked Helgo.
The one-time world No.3 was mightily relieved to have finally prevailed an hour after after missing the chance to close out victory with a match point in the second set.
"It was a crazy match, a crazy performance from Helgo," Garcia said.
"I didn't know her very well and she just played a crazy match, was hitting the ball so well.
"I went through all the emotions. It's only the third match of the season and I'm exhausted already."
Three-time grand slam finalist Ruud rose to the occasion with a must-win victory over Mannarino at Ken Rosewall Arena, but came up short in the mixed as fourth seeds France booked a semi-final on Saturday with Poland.
Garcia looms as a serious pre-Australian Open test for world No.1 Iga Swiatek as top seeds Poland remain favourites to take out the $US10 million mixed teams' showpiece.
The mercurial 30-year-old former Fed Cup hero has also conquered returning former world No.1 and three-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber this week and says she lives to play for her country.
"It's so nice," Garcia said.
"I mean, we play individual sports and a few times a year we have the chance to to represent Team France."
Greece and German square off in the last quarter-final in Sydney on Friday night, with the winners to take on tournament hosts Australia on Saturday.
