PERTH, Australia (AP) Roger Federer defeated Richard Gasquet of France 6-1, 6-4 to move Switzerland to within one win of the Hopman Cup final on Friday.
Federer, making his return to tournament play after six months off with a left knee injury, was rarely threatened in the match before a capacity crowd of nearly 14,000 at Perth Arena. He finished the 56-minute match with two service winners.
''It's the third match into the year, so I'm starting to see the ball better and better,'' said Federer, who lost to Germany's Alexander Zverev in three tiebreak sets on Wednesday.
Federer's teammate, Belinda Bencic, was to play Kristina Mladenovic of France in the second singles. A win advances Switzerland to Saturday's final against the United States team of Coco Vandeweghe and Jack Sock.
The U.S. has won the Hopman Cup a record six times in the tournament's 28-year history
Earlier, Zverev and Andrea Petkovic beat Britain's Daniel Evans and Heather Watson 4-2, 4-2 in doubles to give Germany a 2-1 win.
Watson beat Petkovic 6-2, 7-6 (3), coming back from 5-1 down in the second set. But Zverev leveled for Germany when he beat Evans 6-4, 6-3, sending the tie to the doubles decider which was played under the Fast4 format.
It was Germany's first win of the tournament. Britain finished 0-3.
