Teenager Mika Stojsavljevic and Harriet Dart have put a depleted Great Britain one win away from sealing a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after beating Australia in Melbourne.
Seventeen-year-old Stojsavljevic, ranked 275th, stunned world No 65 Talia Gibson 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 on her Billie Jean King Cup debut. The 2024 US Open junior champion overturned a 219-place ranking gap to give Anne Keothavong’s side a perfect start in the qualifiers in the absence of Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Katie Boulter and Fran Jones.
Stojsavljevic raced to a 3-1 lead early in the match, needed a tie-break to take the opening set and successfully defended five break points before closing out a see-saw second set that featured five breaks of serve.
“It feels amazing. I can’t believe it. I can’t even remember the last point,” Stojsavljevic said. “I had amazing support from the side and managed to get through. Going into it, I knew she’d have the home ground. I’m grateful to the people supporting GB today. It was a good match. We have very similar games, both quite aggressive, so I’m happy I got through it.”
Later, Harriet Dart battled back to defeat Kimberly Birrell 4-6 6-3 6-3, leaving Great Britain needing one win from the remaining three matches to qualify for the Finals in Shenzhen, China, from September 22-27.
“I’m super happy to be able to get the win after Mika’s incredible performance earlier,” Dart said. “I’m very happy to notch the win – there were so many ups and downs throughout the match but in the end I was able to find the way. It’s such a privilege to play for my country and I always enjoy it as much as I can and it’s so nice to be able to get another win on the board.”
Dart will team up with Jodie Burrage in Saturday’s doubles rubber against Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez as Britain aim to complete the tie.
Saturday at the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers
– Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez vs Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart
– Talia Gibson vs Harriet Dart
– Kimberly Birrell vs Mika Stojsavljevic
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