Australia captain Alicia Molik is backing Daria Saville and Ajla Tomljanovic to get the job done after being left with only three players for Australia’s opening Billie Jean King Cup finals tie in Spain.
Key points:
- Australia has just three available players for their first Billie Jean King Cup tie
- Alicia Molik said doubles number one Storm Hunter will have to make her own decision about playing against Slovenia
- Hunter will arrive in Spain from Mexico just 45 minutes before the tie starts
A scheduling fiasco and the weather gods have forced Ellen Perez out of Tuesday night’s clash with Slovenia, while newly-crowned world number one doubles ace Storm Hunter is only due to land in Seville 45 minutes before the tie starts.
Perez resorted to asking for a ride on social media after losing the rain-delayed WTA Finals doubles decider in Cancún with her American partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez on Tuesday morning (AEDT).
“Anyone got a private jet and want to fly me from Cancun to Seville tomorrow night to make it in time for BJKC Tuesday 10am match,” she wrote on X.
“Really not impressed with this scheduling disaster. Why do I have to be punished for this.”
Hunter made it out of Mexico 12 hours earlier after falling in the semifinals but remains in extreme doubt, with Molik telling AAP the 29-year-old can make her own call about playing or not.
“I’m hoping she arrives feeling wonderful but she might warm up and then I don’t know. It’s up to her if she wants to play or not,” Molik said.
“She’s experienced enough. I’m just conservative. If she doesn’t feel quite right, she’s got the right to say ‘save me for Thursday’.
“I mean, it’s 18-hour door-to-door trip so anyone can be forgiven for not wanting to play as they land.”
Either way, the skipper has full faith that between Saville, Tomljanovic and Kim Birrell, Australia have the class to prevail in the best-of-three-match fixture.
In fact, Molik has so much belief in the second-ranked Australian team that made last year’s final that she has categorically ruled out naming squad reserve Olivia Gadecki as a replacement.
While she won’t formally announce her line-up until an hour before the tie starts at 8pm (AEDT), Molik is leaning towards going with Saville and Tomljanovic as her singles picks.
“They are our two most experienced players,” she said.
And if Hunter presents in shape to play, the captain will let the left-hander choose her own partner.
“She’s number one in the world — she can pick whoever she wants to play with,” Molik said.
“I’ll be on the court with the two singles players so so that’s something that she’ll have to quietly decide herself.
“Whatever happens, I think we should beat Slovenia and at some point you have to trust your players to make the right calls.
“But, as we speak, we only have three players here.
“We’ve only had three players since arriving last Wednesday.
Molik’s dilemma is largely due to the WTA scheduling the so-called “women’s World Cup of tennis” in Spain just two days after the completion of the showpiece season-ending championships staged on another continent.
In a perverse way, though, Molik says only having three players instead of five “makes your job easier”.
“You don’t have to drop anyone,” she said.
Australia play their second tie on Thursday against Kazakhstan, with only the four group winners progressing to the semifinals.
Champions seven times but not since 1974, Australia have made the semifinals for the past three years and lost the 2022 title match to Switzerland.
AAP
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