Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia beat Australia's Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-3 in the deciding match of the Fed Cup to hand France their third title.

Prior to the pivotal match, Mladenovic had defeated Barty in the singles format, but Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic beat Pauline Parmentier to bring the score to 2-2 leading into the final showdown.

And Mladenovic and Garcia successfully ended France's 16-year wait for a Fed Cup title, which stretches back to 2003 when they beat the United States in the final.

"I'm not sure I've completely realised, because it's been a crazy weekend for everyone," said Garcia.

"The doubles went very fast, but we played every point so focused, and we played a great match and it was very tense."

"I'm the proudest man on the planet. I am going to have a lot of beers," added French captain Julien Benneteau.

"I'm so proud of my girls and my team. They deserve it because they fought for a long time for this title."

Australia have now lost their last nine Fed Cup finals as their 45-year wait for the trophy goes on.

It was the last edition of the tournament which will be played in the current format, with next year seeing 12 nations compete in a six-day event in Budapest.