Hopman Cup: Andy Murray and Heather Watson miss out on final

Heather Watson and Andy Murray combined to help Great Britain whitewash Germany

Andy Murray and Heather Watson combined to give Great Britain a 3-0 Hopman Cup whitewash of Germany but missed out on a place in the final in Perth.

On a morning when temperatures rose to 36 degrees, Watson beat Sabine Lisicki 6-3 6-4 before Murray overcame Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4.

The pair then teamed up for a 6-3 6-4 win in the mixed doubles.

Australia Green qualified for Saturday's final after a mixed doubles third set tie-break win over France.

Britain needed a French victory to advance after losing on Wednesday to Australia's Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova, who will now face Ukrainian pair Alexandr Dolgopolov and Elina Svitolina in the decider.

Despite the result, the competition is useful for Watson and Murray's preparation for the Australian Open, which starts in Melbourne on 18 January.

"It's great to get matches in," said Murray. "It is nice to play during the day to get used to the hot weather."

Easy does it for Andy

Murray lost to Australian Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday but was in resurgent form against Alexander Zverev

An early break in each set was enough for Murray, 28, to ease home against his teenage opponent, ranked 83 in the world.

Murray wore Zverev down by keeping him on the move and targeting his opponent's inconsistent forehand.

The Scot did lose his serve once in the second set, letting a 5-2 lead slip as Zverev had break points to level at 5-5.

But Murray quickly recovered to seal victory on his next service game after a big serve down the middle.

'The fittest I've ever been'

Watson now has a career record of 3-1 against Sabine Lisicki

British women's number two Watson, 23, earlier secured an impressive straight-sets win over former Wimbledon finalist Lisicki.

Lisicki, ranked 32 in the world, made a strong start on serve in the first set only for Watson to make the decisive break at 4-3 and serve out the set to 15.

The second set was more comfortable for world number 55 Watson as she broke Lisicki twice to seal a third career win over her former training partner.

"It was a really good match," Watson said. "She's a tough opponent and a great server, so I knew that holding serve would be very important.

"I did a shorter off-season, but more intense, this year," she added. "I feel like this is the fittest and strongest I've ever been."