Australia has its sights set on progressing to the semifinals at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Prague. But to advance to the knockout stage of the prestigious team competition, Australia must first defeat Belarus in its final round-robin match.
"They are tough, but we are familiar with them and I think they're beatable," said Australian captain Alicia Molik of facing Belarus.
Victory against Belarus guarantees Australia finishes on top of Group B in the round-robin stages of the competition.
If Belarus wins the tie, a countback will determine which Group B nation progresses to the semifinals.
| BILLIE JEAN KING CUP - GROUP B STANDINGS | |||||
| Nation | Ties played | Ties won | Ties lost | Matches won | Matches lost |
| Belgium | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Belarus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The Australian team scored a stunning 2-1 victory against Belgium earlier this week, with Storm Sanders recording her career-first top-20 singles win against Elise Mertens and Daria Gavrilova upsetting world No.70 Greet Minnen in her first professional match since February.
"I love representing my country, these are the best weeks of the year for me," said Sanders.
Ajla Tomljanovic sat out the Belgium tie with illness, but Molik hopes the world No.43 will return to the Australian line-up for this must-win clash with Belarus.
"We'll be carrying in a lot of confidence," said Molik. "I feel like it's a really winnable tie for us."
| BILLIE JEAN KING CUP FINALS | ||
| AUSTRALIA | v | BELARUS |
| Ajla TomljanovicSingles: No.43 Doubles: No.140 | Aliaksandra SasnovichSingles: No.88 Doubles: No.79 | |
| Storm SandersSingles: No.131 Doubles: No.33 | Yuliya HatoukaSingles: No.192 Doubles: No.495 | |
| Ellen PerezSingles: No.200 Doubles: No.43 | Iryna ShymanovichSingles: No.263 Doubles: No.311 | |
| Olivia GadeckiSingles: No.232 Doubles: No.180 | Vera LapkoSingles: No.356 Doubles: No.238 | |
| Daria GavrilovaSingles: No.412 Doubles: No.559 | Lidziya MarozavaSingles: - Doubles: No.90 | |
This is the second meeting between Australia and Belarus in the Billie Jean King Cup competition. The first was in the 2019 semifinals, when Australia recorded a memorable 3-2 victory at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
Australia's tie with Belarus will be broadcast live on 9Gem in Australia, with coverage beginning from 8.30pm AEDT.