Melbourne-Sana
France won their first ever FA Women's Cup in 16 years after beating hosts Australia in the final today.
Kristina Mladenovic worked with Caroline Garcia on the decisive point by beating Ashley Barty and Samantha Stoser 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles to win France's third title and break the hearts of the majority of fans at the Perth Arena, which received 13,842 fans today.
After a bitter 3-2 home defeat by the Czech Republic in the 2016 final, Mladenovic and Garcia wanted to avoid repeating the same fate and played the pair firmly on the solid blue court.
Mladenovic played a key role in France's triumph after outperforming all three games and replacing them with a group to beat world number one Barti in the singles earlier in the day.
She cooperated with France's top seed Garcia, who overcame a humiliating 6-0 6-0 defeat by Barti on Tuesday to help oust Australia in the playoff doubles.
Australia saved two points to clinch the tournament during a 5-2 delay in Group B but Mladenovic completed her impressive career with the final point.
Australia had dreamed of their eighth FA Cup and first title in 45 years but lost the last nine finals, including six successive defeats between 1975 and 1980.
After Mladenovic's big 6-1 6-11 win over first-time FA Cup runner-up Ayla Tomljanovic dealt a blow to the hosts' hopes of beating brilliant Barti 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.
