Mertens upsets Gavrilova at Hopman Cup

Elise Mertens has claimed a three-sets win over Australia's Daria Gavrilova at the Hopman Cup in Perth to keep alive Belgium's chances of reaching Saturday night's final.

The world No.36 fought back from a set down to beat Gavrilova, ranked 25, 2-6 6-4 6-2.

The 22-year-old Belgian's game was littered with unforced errors, but she gained confidence in her ground shots as the game progressed.

Gavrilova was unable to maintain the control that she had in an impressive opening set and started to struggle with her serve.

Australia can still finish on top of Group A and reach the decider however, even if Thanasi Kokkinakis doesn't win his rubber against world No.7 David Goffin later on Wednesday.

The host nation will need to beat the highly ranked German team of Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber on Friday night if that is to happen.

And even then other results will also need to go their way.

Meanwhile, Thursday night's tie between the USA and Switzerland will determine the winner of Group B.