Australia’s wait for another Hopman Cup title will go on at least another year after losing their second consecutive tie against France in Perth on Wednesday.

Casey Dellacqua surrendered a one set lead in going down to Alize Cornet, the world no.29 faltering under the expectation of the home crowd in the 4-6 7-5 6-1 result.

Late replacement Marinko Matosevic gave the supporters something to cheer about when he came from behind to clinch a 2-6 6-4 6-2 triumph against Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Unfortunately the pair went down to their opposition in the deciding mixed doubles 7-6(3) 7-5 ending any chance they had of progressing to the final, having been soundly beaten by Poland earlier in the week.

Matosevic’s win came less than 24-hours after arriving in Perth to cover for the injured Matt Ebden, after the 29-year-old was bundled out in the first round of the Brisbane International.

“From the huge low of losing on home soil to getting the call-up for the Hopman Cup … it went from a devastating low to a dizzying high,” said Matosevic after his singles match.

“I was confident, but then when I was 2-0 down (in the second set), I thought ‘Oh my God, this is embarrassing’.

“The crowd really helped me out there – they gave me some energy and I just kept on feeding off that for the rest of the match.”

France’s overall win kept alive their hopes of defending their mixed-teams event title. They will take on Poland in a re-match of last year’s final to decide who will meet the US in the 2015 decider.

Meanwhile the Aussies will be out to restore some pride and gain some invaluable match practise for the Australian Open later this month when they take on the Great Britain pairing of Heather Watson and Andy Murray on Friday night.

We hope all our tennis members, members and guests have had a great start to 2015, with the fine weather providing the perfect backdrop to swing a racquet.

Don’t forget you can also catch all the tennis action currently being played around the country on the big screen in the SSC clubhouse.

We look forward to bringing you all the action of the Australian Open when play gets under way at Melbourne Park from 19th January.