{"id":21665,"date":"2026-04-09T14:44:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/?p=21665"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:45:31","slug":"gibson-to-lead-bjk-cup-finals-pursuit-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/gibson-to-lead-bjk-cup-finals-pursuit-in-melbourne","title":{"rendered":"Gibson to lead BJK Cup Finals pursuit in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Talia Gibson will make her Billie Jean King Cup playing debut on Friday, competing as Australia\u2019s No.1 singles player.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Culture Amp Australian Billie Jean King Cup team will enter their upcoming Qualifier tie against Great Britain well-prepared and motivated to return to the Finals.<\/p>\n

After Australia missed out on the competition’s Finals in 2025, following their second-place finish in their Qualifiers group in April, form is on their side, providing a selection conundrum for captain Sam Stosur.<\/p>\n

Already one of the \u201chardest [squads] to pick\u201d, settling on the players to feature on court was not any simpler.<\/p>\n

> READ: Squad selected for Australia’s BJK Cup tie against Great Britain<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never easy [selecting the team]. Obviously first and foremost you pick the team coming into it and when you get here, then you\u2019ve got to make that decision on who\u2019s going to actually step out on the court,\u201d Stosur said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s practiced so well these last few days, we could have gone with at least four singles players playing on that first day \u2026 sometimes experience can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Talia Gibson was selected as Australia\u2019s No.1 singles player for the tie following a breakout Sunshine Swing. She will open play on Friday against 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic, with both players playing for the first time in their BJK Cup careers.<\/p>\n

Her second appearance at a BJK Cup tie, Gibson is excited about assuming the role of Australian singles No.1.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s still a little bit of a shock to me that I\u2019m now in this position after the last month with how I went in the US,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

> MORE: Gibson riding full wave of confidence in the US<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I want to take full confidence from that and sort of know that I belong in this position and that I\u2019ve earned it. I\u2019m really proud of how I\u2019ve been playing and the work I\u2019ve been putting in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when I go out tomorrow, I just want to enjoy that moment. You know my first match, this is what I\u2019ve dreamed of, so I\u2019m just full of excitement.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kimberly Birrell has been named as Australia\u2019s No.2 singles player and will face British No.1 Harriet Dart in the second match on Friday.<\/p>\n

> READ: Birrell eager for British Billie Jean King Cup challenge<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez have once again been selected for the doubles rubber which will be played on Saturday. They will hope to maintain their strong 5-1 record as a pairing, before the reverse singles commences.<\/p>\n

Opposing Dart and Jodie Burrage, who will compete in their first match as a pairing, Perez hopes she and Hunter can use their experience to their advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very experienced in playing a lot of big matches on tour,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStorm and I have played a lot together, so we have a lot of comfort in knowing that. They haven\u2019t played at all together, but we\u2019ll use that experience and knowledge and definitely try and put our best foot forward for that match.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

> LAST TIME THEY MET: Stosur clutch in swansong BJK Cup campaign<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

The rivalry will extend beyond the tennis court for British squad member Katie Swan this week given her Australian connection.<\/p>\n

Swan is currently dating Alex Bolt and admits there has been some friendly banter between the couple.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually lives with Ellen Perez, so we\u2019ve had a bit of back and forth over if he was going to give me some inside scoop into the team. I don\u2019t think Ellen\u2019s given anything away to him either,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s decided to leave the country today, so he\u2019s actually not going to be around for the tie, which is probably a good thing since I don\u2019t think he was going to support us anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia hopes the tie will be a repeat of their most recent encounter against Great Britain, a 2-1 victory during the 2022 semifinals in Glasgow. They have won eight of 11 meetings against Great Britain and will be seeking their second victory on home soil.<\/p>\n

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2026 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Australia v Great Britain<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Day 1: Friday 10 April<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Talia Gibson (AUS)<\/td>\n56<\/td>\nv<\/td>\nMika Stojsavljevic (GBR)<\/td>\n275<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kimberly Birrell (AUS)<\/td>\n80<\/td>\nv<\/td>\nHarriet Dart (GBR)<\/td>\n173<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Day 2: Saturday 11 April<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Storm Hunter (AUS)\/Ellen Perez (AUS)\u00a0<\/td>\n17\/20<\/td>\nv<\/td>\nJodie Burrage (GBR)\/Harriet Dart (GBR)<\/td>\n200\/129<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Talia Gibson (AUS)<\/td>\n56<\/td>\nv<\/td>\nHarriet Dart (GBR)<\/td>\n173<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kimberly Birrell (AUS)<\/td>\n80<\/td>\nv<\/td>\nMika Stojsavljevic (GBR)<\/td>\n275<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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You can watch Australia\u2019s Qualifier tie against Great Britain on 10-11 April on the channels of the Nine Network.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talia Gibson will make her Billie Jean King Cup playing debut on Friday, competing as Australia\u2019s No.1 singles player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6414,"featured_media":21666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}