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Australia and France one rubber away from Davis Cup final

Australia celebrate victory in their Davis Cup doubles rubber with Belgium

Australia are one rubber away from a first Davis Cup final since 2003 after Jordan Thompson and John Peers claimed a dominant doubles victory over Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans and Arthur De Greef.

Thompson and Peers needed just an hour and 38 minutes to complete the triumph, restricting their opponents to only seven games in a 6-3 6-4 6-0 success.

A single break in the first and second set proved enough for the Australian pair to take a 2-0 lead, and they rattled off seven straight games to put Lleyton Hewitt's team within touching distance of the showpiece.

Nick Kyrgios will try to win the tie when he takes on a player he has never lost to in the shape of David Goffin. Should Goffin prevail, it will come down to a rubber between Steve Darcis and John Millman.

France are in the box seat to face Australia or Belgium in the final, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut emerging victorious against the Serbian pair of Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic to take a 2-1 lead in the tie.

Herbert and Mahut dictated the majority of the contest in Lille, and survived a third-set wobble to win 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-3).

After coasting through the opening two sets, the French duo appeared poised to do the same in the third after breaking twice for a 5-2 lead.

But Serbia then won the next three games in a row and held firm in their final service game to force a tie-break.

However, normal service was resumed in the breaker, which was won comfortably by France to provide Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with the opportunity to seal the tie, which is a repeat of the 2010 final, and secure a second appearance in the showpiece in four years.

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