Great Britain reach Billie Jean King Cup finals after triumphing over Australia

Ed Griffiths
Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:07:15 +0000

Great Britain has booked their place at September's Billie Jean King Cup finals in Shenzhen following a commanding triumph over Australia on Melbourne's hard courts.

Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage sealed the victory in the doubles rubber, overcoming Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez 6-3 6-4 to establish an insurmountable 3-0 advantage in the best-of-five qualifying encounter.

The British pair, partnering together for the first time, fell behind early after losing their opening service game and trailing 3-1.

However, they responded emphatically, winning five consecutive games to secure the opening set.

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A scrappy second set saw four successive breaks of serve before Britain made the crucial breakthrough in the ninth game, with Burrage serving out the match.

The foundation for Saturday's success was laid on Friday when Britain claimed both singles rubbers at John Cain Arena, one of the Australian Open's premier venues.

Mika Stojsavljevic, just 17 years old, produced a remarkable performance on her competition debut, defeating Talia Gibson in straight sets despite being ranked more than 200 places below her opponent.

Dart then completed the singles sweep by battling back from a set down to overcome Kimberly Birrell.

Australia's teenage talent Emerson Jones, also 17, salvaged some pride for the hosts by beating Katie Swan 7-5 6-3 in a dead rubber, reducing the final margin to 3-1.

Britain entered the tie as underdogs, missing four players ranked inside the world's top 100 in singles.

Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Fran Jones and Sonay Kartal were all unavailable, yet the depleted squad overcame significant disparities in both ranking and experience.

The victory marks Britain's third consecutive qualification for the finals, where they have reached the semi-finals in each of the past two editions.

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Anne Keothavong's side became only the second nation to secure their Shenzhen berth, joining hosts China, while defending champions Italy later confirmed their spot by completing a 3-0 victory over Japan.

Australia must now contest November's play-offs rather than competing at the main event.

Captain Keothavong was delighted with her team's performance against higher-ranked opposition.

she said: "We are overjoyed. I have to credit the players on my team for going out there and being able to execute the way they did, hold their nerve the way they did, and perform the way they did."

The British captain made clear her ambitions extend beyond mere participation when the finals commence.

Keothavong added: "[Winning the title is] always the ultimate goal.

"I know we've got players, and strength and depth in the UK, to do something special in this competition.

"When we head to the finals, whoever is on my team, we are not there to make up the numbers, that's for sure."