By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, November 12, 2022
Storm Sanders and Samantha Stosur edged Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 10-6 to clinch Australia's trip to its 19th Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Photo credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty
Multi-tasking master Storm Sanders isn't just a danger in singles and doubles.
Sanders is a first-class party planner too.
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Set to be wed next week, Sanders set off joyous Australian celebration today.
Sanders and buddy Samantha Stosur edged Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 10-6 in the decisive doubles to clinch Australia's trip to its 19th Billie Jean King Cup Finals final with a dramatic 2-1 decision over Great Britain in Glasgow.
"That was amazing, that was a really good match," Sanders said afterward. "That could have gone either way. Credit to the GB girls—they played really well today in both singles and doubles. So credit to them they played really well. They'll be here again for sure."
Australia will face either 11-time champion Czech Republic or Switzerland, seeking its first BJK Cup championship, in Sunday's final at the Emirates Arena.
Seven-time champion Australia is back to the final for the first time since 2019 when it lost a heartbreaker, 3-2, to visiting France in a final that came down to the decisive doubles in Perth, Australia.
In that final, Australia was led by Ashleigh Barty. World No. 1 Barty retired after winning the Australian Open in January and today Sanders played like a world beater.
The left-handed Sanders opened today's semifinal with a gutsy 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Heather Watson to stake Australia to the lead.
Emotion can be a great equalizer in BJK Cup play.
World No. 98 Harriet Dart showed it stopping Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(3), 6-2 to level this semifinal for host Great Britain and set the stage for the decisive doubles match.
All four players continuously raised the stakes in a superb doubles thriller. Deadlocked at 6-6, Australia ran off the final four points with Sanders swatting a forehand volley to clinch a trip to the final.
"A real credit to the four players out on court that was pretty inspirational," Australian captain Alicia Molik said afterward. "So I hope it inspires a lot more of you out there to play doubles. It was really such a high level, you couldn't pick it in the end.
"We've got the team, I believe, to get through tomorrow. We're still making up for the final we lost a couple of years ago. We know what that feels like. We've got great support. It's ours for the taking. We've just got to go for it and see what happens."
In today's opener, Watson whipped a running forehand winner down the line navigating a tough 10-minute hold for a 5-4 second-set lead.
Sanders stamped the first love hold of the match to force the second-set tiebreaker.
At crunch time, Sanders competed with more bite and aggression.
The doubles world No. 10 opened with three straight winners. Sanders smacked a backhand winner down the line for a 4-1 lead she soon stretched to 6-1.
On her third match point, Sanders closed when Watson netted a forehand.
"I can't really talk right now, I'm shaking. It's amazing," Sanders said. "Heather is a really, really good player. To play in front of their home crowd was a tough ask for us. I just tried to stick with her and tried to fight and I was able to turn it around and I'm super happy with my performance today.
"It was definitely really close. I just tried to back myself and play my game. I like to be aggressive and stay on the baseline and hit the ball as hard as I can. I just kept trying to do that, just try to fight for the team. Having them on the sidelines, every point looking at them and they just gave me a lot of energy. I couldn't have got through without them."
After Sanders staked Australia to a 1-0 lead the green-and-gold were one win from a Finals return.
A determined Dart held from love-30 down to open. Dart drilled a forehand down the line and followed it forward for a smash breaking in Tomljanovic's opening service game.
Dart breezed through eight of nine points building a 3-0 lead after just eight minutes of play.
A backhand bold down the line helped Dart hold to extend her lead to 5-2.
The Briton served for the set at 5-3, but Tomljanovic did a fine job spreading the court and drawing an errant backhand to break back. Tomljanovic saved a set point in the 10th game eventually extending the set into the tiebreaker.
By then, Dart was stepping in on the baseline to attack the Aussie's second serve. Spooked by her opponent's assertive court positioning, Tomljanovic double faulted to fall behind 2-5 in the breaker.
Cranking a crosscourt forehand gave Dart more set points at 6-3. She closed the set on her second set point.
Swinging freely, Dart broke to start the second set and scored her third break for 4-1. Dart defeated Tomljanovic for the first time in three meetings to force the decisive doubles match.
Neither team could create much separation in the decisive doubles thriller.
Nicholls held strong to force the second-set tiebreaker when Stosur netted a short forehand.
Reading the return, Nicholls plugged the middle and reflexed a volley winner to even the breaker after 10 points. An Australia error gave Great Britain set point.
Swooping forward, Barnett bashed a high forehand stretch volley to end the second-set and force a first-to-10 match tiebreaker.
A clever rainbow lob from Sanders put Australia up 3-2—a lead it extended to 6-3.
The Brits answered with a three-point run as Nicholls' serve winner leveled the breaker at 6-6.
That's when the veteran Stosur stepped up. Stosur plugged the middle with a forehand volley winner and slashed a swinging forehand drive volley to split the defense for match points. Sanders sealed it sending the Aussies back to the final.