On Saturday, Australia defeated hosts Britain 2-1 in the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, moving on to the finals where they will face Switzerland in a bid to win their first crown since 1974.
Storm Sanders was Australia’s hero by winning the first singles rubber before returning to the deciding doubles match with 38-year-old Samantha Stosur.
Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls competed in the singles, with Sanders and Stosur in the tie-break as the tie level at 1-1 after the singles. Sanders and Stosur returned to the final for the first time since 2019 by defeating Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls 7-6(1) 6-7(5) 10-6.
It could have gone either way; credit to the British girls _ Sanders said in a post-match interview, while Stosur said, “No one deserved to lose it; it’s a real honor to represent Australia in the final.”
The start was poor as Sanders put Australia on the board when she beat Heather Watson 6-4 7-6(3) in the first singles match of Britain, who reached the semi-finals for the first time in 41 years.
In the BJK Cup finals, Sanders went for her shots and fired 27 champions, while Watson made 39 unforced errors. Sanders, who was over 100 rungs lower in the rankings, continued her unbeaten streak in the singles.
“Played super aggressively, and he made great returns. It changed a lot and threw different paces and spins; I thought he served well, was smart, and I struggled with that,” Watson told reporters.
The pressure was on for Harriet Dart to keep the tie alive for the hosts, and she duly cruised to a 7-6(3) 6-2 win over Ajla Tomljanovic as Australia went 1-0 up.
The Briton dominated the opening set, racing to a 3-0 lead against the world number 33 Tomljanovic. However, the Australian broke back and forced a tie-break, which the Briton won, thanks to growing confidence.
He covered the court well and fired Tomljanovic’s flurry of winners, so Dart picked up his game in the second set and strung together a double break to go 4-1 up.
As Britain leveled the tie, Dart served for the match with the home crowd firmly behind her. Tomljanovic’s return went long on the first match point as Britannia dropped the game.
Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 2-0 in the second semi-final.
Swiss champion Belinda Bencic defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-2 7-6(6) for the Swiss’ second consecutive final victory after victorious Viktorija Golubic beat Karolina Muchova 6-4 6-4 in the first singles rubber.
he played no match between Bencic and Teichmann versus Katerina Siniakova and Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
