Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup team must climb out of a 0-2 hole to avoid the same fate as the country’s Davis Cup squad after losing both singles matches to Great Britain at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Gun doubles pair Storm Sanders and Ellen Perez will attempt to keep Australia’s hopes alive in the opening rubber on Saturday, but the host nation must also win both reverse singles to claim the tie and earn a spot in the eight-country finals in China in September.
Australia started as hot favourites in the qualifying tie, given the top three Brits – Emma Raducanu (viral illness), Sonay Kartal (back) and Katie Boulter – were not playing.
However, Great Britain’s 17-year-old rising star Mika Stojsavljevic immediately threw a spanner in the works.
Stojsavljevic, the 2024 US Open girls’ champion, thumped 12 aces on her way to a stunning 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 triumph over in-form West Australian Talia Gibson, who upset five top-20 rivals at Indian Wells and Miami last month.
Kim Birrell looked poised to level the tie when she raced to a one-set lead against world No.173 Harriet Dart, but 15 double faults conspired against her as she collapsed to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat that leaves Australia in serious trouble.
With her yips perhaps playing on her mind, Birrell’s second serve on match point landed tamely in the middle of the service box for Dart to easily put away and place the visiting Brits on the brink of victory.
“We’ve got to stay as upbeat and positive as we can,” Australia’s team captain Sam Stosur said.
“Kim can be disappointed for a little bit, but this is why we’re in a team because we can help lift her up, and that’s what it’s about. We can’t be down in the mouth all night long. That’s not going to help us do anything.
“Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of prep going into tomorrow’s match-ups, and tactical talks and all of that … so there’s still a lot to this night to play out, but that’s the beauty of these two-day events – you get another chance tomorrow. We’re going to come out firing, and give it everything we’ve got.”
Gibson’s career-best run at the “Sunshine Double” propelled her from outside the top 100 to the fringes of the top 50, and Maya Joint’s injury withdrawal made her Australia’s No.1 despite never playing a match for her country before.
It also meant all the attention and expectation was on Gibson, even though she told this masthead beforehand that she was not putting any pressure on herself.
Gibson rallied from down a break in both sets, and had four separate break points at five-all in the second set, but world No.275 Stojsavljevic boldly blasted her way out of trouble on each occasion, including hitting one of her four aces in what proved a pivotal game.
Everything unravelled quickly from there as Gibson, who struggled with unforced errors for most of the match, dropped serve to lose the match and leave Australia 1-0 down.
“It’s tough. We played an extremely long game at five-all. I had some opportunities. She came up with some really great stuff at those times, when I had those opportunities,” Gibson said.
“You do your best to keep the momentum you have [and] I did my best in that game – I gave it everything I had – but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the break. I’m proud of myself that I kept fighting … and hopefully, next time, I can just think back to those moments, and what I could do better to try and get on top there.
“There are more matches to come, so if I need to go back out there tomorrow [Saturday], then I’ll be ready to go again.”
Australia finished runner-up to Switzerland in the BJK Cup in 2022 under former team captain Alicia Molik, with Storm Sanders playing a starring role, but a loss to Great Britain would mean failing to qualify for the eight-country finals in consecutive years.
Like the country’s men, they will need to win a playoff just to remain in the top tier.
An Australian team missing Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin lost to tennis minnow Ecuador in a shock boilover in their Davis Cup qualifying tie after this year’s Australian Open, so Gibson, Birrell and co. will be desperate to avoid a repeat.
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