PERTH: Bernard Tomic tried his best but ultimately couldn’t do his good friend Milos Raonic a favour as Poland sealed a place in the Hopman Cup final in thrilling style on Thursday.

Poland only needed to win a set in the mixed doubles against Australia to secure a spot in the decider.

That looked to be a tough task after the top seeds lost the first set 6-1 in 18 minutes. But Australia’s pairing of Tomic and Sam Stosur conceded a tight second set, meaning Poland advanced to the final instead of Canada’s team of Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard.

Poland went on to win the tie 2-1 after prevailing in the mixed doubles 1-6, 7-5 (10-8). France will also secure a spot in the final if they can beat Spain on Friday.

Earlier, Stosur put up a dogged fight in the women’s singles rubber before succumbing to world number 5 Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. That came after Tomic recorded a 6-1, 6-4 win over Grzegorz Panfil.

Raonic and Bouchard combined to give Canada a 3-0 win over Italy earlier on Thursday.

Canada’s victory had kept alive their chance of qualifying for Saturday’s final from Group ‘A’ when Raonic beat Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-4 and Bouchard clinched it when Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-0 in the first set.—Agencies