Samantha Stosur will get another crack in Australia’s Fed Cup semi-final after hitting the ball as sweetly as ever in front of a home crowd she said rivalled anything she had experienced in her 20-year career.
The former US Open champion came within a whisker of upsetting Belarus’s world No.10 Aryna Sabalenka in the opening rubber on Saturday, losing 7-5 5-7 6-3 in an almost three-hour tussle.
Spearhead Ashleigh Barty levelled proceedings with a classy 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 defeat of former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka in front of 5,126 rowdy fans at Pat Rafter Arena – a record for a Fed Cup tie in Australia.
Chasing Australia’s first title since 1974, captain Alicia Molik has resisted any thoughts of changing her players for Sunday’s reverse singles rubbers.
World No.9 Barty will play Sabalenka before Stosur meets Azarenka or Aliaksandra Sasnovich, in a match that could seal the tie for Australia or keep them alive.
A doubles contest will decide the tie if scores are locked at 2-2, with Queenslanders Stosur and Barty named to team up for the first time.
But Priscilla Hon, who won the corresponding match with Barty in Australia’s defeat of the United States, is also an option to replace Stosur, who would be playing back-to-back matches.
Stosur was backed ahead of the higher-ranked Gavrilova for the opening rubber by captain Alicia Molik and the 35-year-old justified the call by matching the imposing 20-year-old Sabalenka from the baseline.
Molik agreed it was perhaps the best she’s seen Stosur play in Brisbane and the player herself wants another shot at some rare success on home soil, in a career that’s featured countless overseas triumphs.
“If Alicia wants to put me in I will say ‘yes, thank you very much’ and try and do it all over again,” Stosur said after her tight loss.
“It’s the best crowd we’ve had in Australia playing Fed Cup … overseas we get donuts even if we hit the best shot in the world, but I knew that I was playing in Australia.”