The United States saw their defence of the Hopman Cup ended by Germany as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.
Having suffered a surprising 3-0 whitewash by Slovakia in their opening contest, the American pairing of Meghann Shaughnessy and James Blake needed to win to stand any chance of progressing from Group A to the final.
Sabine Lisicki got the Germans off to an ideal start with a tough three-set victory over Shaughnessy.
Lisicki dropped the first set before winning 12 of the last 16 games to emerge a 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 winner.
Blake then kept the US in the contest with a marathon 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 win over Nicolas Kiefer in two and half hours.
Kiefer took the first set and held match points in the second-set tiebreak, but Blake dug deep to keep his dream of a third Hopman Cup alive.
Keeping up with the other matches, the decisive mixed doubles rubber also went the distance with the Germans eventually winning the third-set tie-break 10-7 to seal a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 success.
Elsewhere, Italy came back from the brink of defeat to upset tournament favourites France by two rubbers to one in the fifth session yesterday.
Alize Cornet gave France the lead with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Flavia Pennetta in one hour and 20 minutes.
A French victory looked a foregone conclusion, with world No 7 Gilles Simon playing Simone Bolelli in the second rubber. But the little-known Italian stunned his higher-ranked opponent with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
The Italian mixed doubles team won 7-2 in the tie-breaker of the second set to win 6-4, 7-6.
To have a chance of qualifying for Sunday's final, Italy must beat Chinese Taipei and rely on Russia losing one of their matches. Australia's bid for a second Hopman Cup also ended after they lost 2-1 to Slovakia in the sixth session.
* Agencies
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If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
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MWTC info
Tickets to the MWTC range from Dh100 and can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ae or by calling 800 86 823 from within the UAE or 971 4 366 2289 from outside the country and all Virgin Megastores. Fans looking to attend all three days of the MWTC can avail of a special 20 percent discount on ticket prices.
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The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
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The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5