Spain edge towards final

The former world number one Arantxa Sanchez Vicario moved Spain a step closer to reaching the final of the Hopman Cup mixed teams tournament in Perth yesterday.

Sanchez Vicario overpowered Sweden's Asa Carlsson in the women's singles, winning 6-1 6-2, while Karina Habsudova defeated Australian Annabel Ellwood 6-3 6-3 to give Slovakia a flying start.

Habsudova overcame a slow start to outplay Ellwood, winning eight games in a row after losing the first three. Spain will now look to Carlos Moya to continue the good work in his men's singles clash with Thomas Enqvist. Slovakia's hopes will be pinned on Karol Kucera, who comes up against Australia's world number two and US Open champion Patrick Rafter.

France boosted their chances of reaching the final by whipping reigning champions the United States 3-0.

World number seven Mary Pierce dominated the women's singles, taking only 52 minutes to defeat Chanda Rubin 6-0 6-3.

Then Cedric Pioline, the world number 20, took the men's singles 6-4 6-3 over Jonathan Stark to give France an unbeatable lead.

France completed a clean sweep when the pair also won the mixed doubles, beating Jonathan Stark and Chanda Rubin 6-4 7-6 (7/3).

Second seeds France take on the third-seeded South Africa team of Wayne Ferreira and Amanda Coetzer today for a place in the final.

Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee failed to shed any light yesterday on the withdrawal of Monica Seles (22) from the year's first Grand Slam event.

But McNamee could not confirm whether the former world number one's absence is connected to the health of her father and coach Karolj, who has been suffering from stomach cancer.

"I don't want to speculate," said McNamee. "But I am disappointed that Monica won't be playing. She's a four-time former champion and a great friend of the tournament and Australia. She's never lost a singles match in Australia."

The Yugoslavia-born American's absence means she joins her great rival Steffi Graf in missing the tournament, which starts in Melbourne on January 19th. Former runner-up Mary Joe Fernandez has also ruled herself out.

The men's competition also lost a key player in former French Open champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, who has knee injury.