Australia and Great Britain are already staunch sporting rivals, and that rivalry extends to tennis.
Both Grand Slam nations, the Aussies and the Brits were among the 16 teams to compete in the inaugural Billie Jean King Cup competition – then known as Federation Cup – of 1963.
Australia and Great Britain first clashed in 1967, and most recently in 2022, and their latest meeting in 2026, set for 10-11 April at John Cain Arena, comes with plenty of significance attached.
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Not only is there a place in September’s Finals on the line, but the competition is making a rare appearance in Melbourne, at the home of the Australian Open.
We revisit some other notable times representative tennis was staged in Australia’s sporting capital.
2017
The last time an Australian tennis team played in Melbourne was more than nine years ago, when the Davis Cup team hosted the Czech Republic at Kooyong.
In the first round of the 2017 World Group, the Aussies were dominant.
Jordan Thompson and Nick Kyrgios completed straight-sets victories in singles, before Sam Groth and John Peers completed the job with a straight-sets win in the doubles.
The Aussies ultimately completed a 4-1 win, before going on to beat the United States – avenging the team’s loss to the US at Kooyong in 2016 – to advance to the semifinals.
2011
Six years before that was the last time Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup team competed in Melbourne – now 15 years ago.
The Aussie squad hosted Ukraine on clay in the verdant surrounds of the Glen Iris Valley Tennis Club, in eastern suburban Melbourne.
Jarmila Wolfe was the shining light for Australia, winning both her singles rubbers – and losing only six games across both matches – in what was her first year donning the green-and-gold. However, the Aussies lost 3-2 in the World Group Play-off tie to drop to World Group II.
Wins over Switzerland and Germany in 2012 saw Australia return to the World Group for 2013.
2010
The last time Melbourne Park hosted representative tennis was in 2010, when the Australian Davis Cup team was battling to return to the World Group.
Margaret Court Arena was the venue for the Asia/Oceania Group I first-round tie against Chinese Taipei, one Australia swept 5-0.
Bernard Tomic and Peter Luczak put the hosts ahead 2-0 with singles wins, before Carsten Ball and Paul Hanley combined in the doubles to build an unassailable 3-0 lead. Luczak and Tomic completed dead-rubber singles wins to ensure a whitewash.
Australia reached the World Group Play-off stage that year, before suffering a 3-2 defeat to Belgium. After 3-2 losses to Switzerland and Germany at the same stage in 2011 and 2012, the Aussies beat Poland in the 2013 Play-offs to rejoin the 16-team World Group.
2003
This year was significant in that it was the last time Melbourne Park hosted a Davis Cup final.
A grasscourt was installed at Rod Laver Arena for the 2003 final between Australia and Spain, two years on from Australia’s heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to France, at the same stage, in the same arena, on the same surface.
This time around, the Aussies prevailed, with Mark Philippoussis sealing a famous triumph thanks to a five-set win over Juan Carlos Ferrero in the first of the reverse singles.
Lleyton Hewitt had put the Aussies ahead 1-0 with his own five-set defeat of Ferrero on Day 1, before Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs took the team to the brink of victory with a dominant win over Alex Corretja and Feliciano Lopez.
1988
Meanwhile, the last time the Aussie Billie Jean King Cup team played at the site of the AO was almost 40 years ago.
In this era, the then-Federation Cup’s format saw the world’s top 32 nations converge on one location and compete in a knockout-style format.
That location in 1988 was Melbourne, at Flinders Park (now Melbourne Park), which just 11 months earlier had hosted the Australian Open for the first time.
The Australian team won its first match 3-0 against Israel, then 3-0 against Italy – both times thanks to singles wins by Nicole Provis and Anne Minter, and a doubles victory to Elizabeth Smylie and Wendy Turnbull.
These wins sent the hosts into the quarterfinals, where they fell to an impressive German squad led by top-20 stars Claudia Kohde Klisch and Sylvia Hanika.