Great Britain have secured their place in the Billie Jean King Cup finals after a dominant victory over Australia in Melbourne. The under-strength team, missing several top players, delivered an impressive performance to win the qualifier 3-1.
Seventeen-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic marked her debut with a 7-6 (4) 7-5 win over Talia Gibson on Friday. Harriet Dart then fought back to beat Kimberly Birrell 4-6 6-3 6-3, before teaming up with Jodie Burrage in the doubles to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead. Dart and Burrage defeated Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez 6-3 6-4 on Saturday.
“It’s pretty crazy, we played pretty well, actually, didn't we?” said Dart. “It’s such an honour to represent GB and to make the finals as well is kind of surreal.” Australia recorded a consolation win in the fourth rubber as Emerson Jones beat Katie Swan 7-5 6-3.
The Billie Jean King Cup finals begin in Shenzhen, China, on 21 September, with Great Britain among eight nations competing. Captain Anne Keothavong, who has led the team since 2016, expressed her joy: “We’re all just overjoyed. Look, it’s been an unbelievable week here in Melbourne, and the tennis that was played yesterday and today was just fantastic. I couldn’t really ask anything more of my team. I’m so proud of them.”
Keothavong believes the team can go all the way after reaching the semi-finals last year. “I bloody hope so. Look, that’s always the ultimate goal, and I know we’ve got players and a strength in depth, you know, in the UK to do something special in this competition,” she said. “But, yeah, absolutely, when we head to the finals, whoever is on my team, we’re there. We’re not there to make up the numbers, that’s for sure.”
