Sam Stosur call backfires as Katie Boulter leads GB to stunning feat in Billie Jean King Cup

Sam Stosur's selections backfired as Australia crashed out of the Billie Jean King Cup on Sunday, while Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu led Great Britain to a stunning triumph over defending champions Canada. Australia suffered a painful loss to Slovakia in the quarter-finals after new captain Stosur opted to go with Kim Birrell ahead of Olivia Gadecki.

The crucial call backfired as Birrell went down to Viktoria Hruncakova in the opening singles rubber, before Rebecca Sramkova sealed victory with a win over injured veteran Ajla Tomljanovic. With Stosur recently taking over from Alicia Molik as captain, the Aussies were chasing a fourth semi-final appearance in five years.

But Stosur's first year as captain ended in disappointment at Marten Carpena Arena in Malaga as the Slovakian underdogs continued their dream week. While Birrell and Gadecki had both made maiden WTA Tour finals in recent times, Gadecki is the higher-ranked player (90) after a charge to the title match at the Guadalajara Open in September.

But Birrell (World No.115) was also riding high after making the final at the Japan Open last month and entered the match against 241st-ranked Hruncakova as the heavy favourite. However the 26-year-old went down 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 in a two-hour, 31-minute battle, piling the pressure on the resurgent Tomljanovic.

Ajla Tomljanovic injured again in Billie Jean King Cup

Back as Australia's women's No.1 after landing a second career title in Hong Kong, Tomljanovic's return to the competition ended in despair. The 31-year-old needed a medical time-out in the first set for another left knee issue and never recovered, going down 6-1 6-2 in barely an hour.

Tomjanovic has been plagued by injuries in recent years, most notable a knee issue. "It didn't feel good in the moment," she said. "I don't really have much more info for you than that. Definitely felt really hard to get back on track after that because having a previous injury there, it never feels good to feel something go wrong.

"I mean, I always bounce back, so I will but it's definitely a tough day, especially when it almost feels like I would have taken this a bit easier if it was just a regular tournament for myself, but you don't want to let your teammates down. So it was a pretty bad ending to today."

Stosur said afterwards: “Obviously it’s disappointing. Obviously I think Kim was very, very close to getting that first match our way, which was great. I thought it was a really good, quality match.

“That was unfortunate to be down 1-0, and then I think it was pretty obvious from 4-0 Ajla was really struggling. It was a tough situation to then be trying to get ourselves back into the tie when clearly you can see that your No.1 player is pretty ­hampered out there. Not the way you ever want it to go.”

Australia last won the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly the Fed Cup) in 1974. They made the final in 2019 and 2022 but fell agonisingly short on both occasions.

Katie Boulter helps Great Britain take down Canada

Slovakia will now face Great Britain in the semis after Raducanu and Boulter helped dispatch defending champions Canada 2-0. Raducanu bagelled Rebecca Marino in the first set before completing a 6-0 7-5 victory, before Boulter (the girlfriend of Aussie star Alex de Minaur) sealed their spot in the final four by beating Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-4.

Fernandez, the runner-up to Raducanu at the 2021 US Open, had won 16 of her previous 17 matches in Billie Jean King Cup, including all eight she played last year as she helped lead Canada to the title. Great Britain are one of only four nations - alongside Australia, France and Italy - to have competed in the tournament every season since its inception in 1963. But they are the only one of those teams to have never lifted the trophy, losing in four finals.

"We're not looking too far ahead," said GB captain Anne Keothavong. "Myself and all the other staff members are doing our best to instil the belief that the players, this, team, can do it. We're in it to win it. I've got every bit of faith and belief in the players."

with agencies