Australia captain Alicia Monk said a first Billie Jean King Cup since 1974 is “for the taking” after seeing off hosts Great Britain in a nail-biting finish to reach Sunday’s final agaist Switzerland.
The Brits had defied the odds with a whitewash of Spain on Thursday to reach the last four for the first time in 41 years in front of a home crowd in Glasgow.
But Australia’s experience paid off as the final doubles clash went to a champions tie-break won by Storm Sanders and Sam Stosur.
The seven-time winners missed out on the title in 2019, when they lost in front of a home crowd to France.
“We’ve got the team to get through tomorrow,” said Monk. “We’re still making up for the final we lost a couple of years ago, we know what that feels like. But we’re optimistic, we’re a team, we’ve got great support, so it’s ours for the taking.”
Finalists for a second consecutive year! 👏
— Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) November 12, 2022
🇨🇭 Switzerland set up a #BJKCupFinals showdown with Australia 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VXQULdwh2L
Viktorija Golubic saw off Karolina Muchova 6-4, 6-4 before Belinda Bencic won the battle of the number ones against Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
