Australia raced to victory over Colombia at Pat Rafter Arena on Saturday, ending its Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers campaign on a high.
Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 12 April 2025 | Matt Trollope
Australia enjoyed a triumphant Saturday at Pat Rafter Arena as Maya Joint and Kimberly Birrell scored singles victories to give the hosts an unbeatable lead over Colombia.
Joint opened the day’s play with a dominant 6-1 6-0 win over Yuliana Monroy before Birrell powered to a 6-1 6-3 victory against Yuliana Lizarazo.
Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez then overwhelmed Valentina Mediorreal Arias and Maria Paulina Perez-Garcia 6-0 6-1 to complete a 3-0 clean sweep in Brisbane.
AUS v COL FLASHBACK: Stosur shines in Billie Jean King Cup debut
Australia finishes second in the three-nation group behind Kazakhstan, who progresses to September’s Finals in Shenzhen. Australia and Colombia will compete in the Play-off round in November.
Team captain Sam Stosur said the result “without a doubt” saw Australia end the week on a memorable note.
“It’s always nice to get wins no matter what the situation. I think all the players today went out there with the thought in the front of their mind that they wanted to finish this weekend on a high, and I think that’s exactly how they all played.
“They all played fantastic today. Didn’t let up and not necessarily the easiest thing to do when it’s a bit of a dead match, but it still means something to all these players representing their country and playing as best they can.
“We had a great crowd, great atmosphere, and I think they gave them a lot to cheer about so it was great to be on the sidelines and I didn’t really do that much today; it was pretty cruisy [for me] with the way that they all played.”
Saturday’s results marked the first Billie Jean King Cup singles wins for both Joint and Birrell, who were thrilled to notch such a milestone while wearing the green-and-gold.
“It’s very special. I feel really happy right now,” said Joint, who struck 22 winners to Monroy’s zero in the 45-minute rout.
“Such an honour to be a part of this team and just being able to play alongside them and just being selected is just, it’s an amazing feeling, but winning is a whole other thing.
“The match felt really good today. I just felt really comfortable and yeah, I was able to do what I wanted.”
Joint made her Billie Jean Cup debut for Australia just two days earlier against Kazakhstan. She fell to Yulia Putintseva 6-2 6-1 yet competed admirably, stretching the world No.23 to several deuce games and impressing a player with vastly more experience in the team event.
“It was actually a lot different [today],” Joint said. “I was really, really nervous last match.
“I felt a little bit more free this time, and I think I was playing really well today, so I settled in pretty quickly and I think I was able to play the way that I wanted to play.
“Yulia [Putintseva] made that [previous match] a little bit harder.”
For Birrell, the victory was especially meaningful given it came in front of friends and family in her home state.
The Queeslander, soon to turn 27, made her representative debut in 2016 as a teenager but this week’s Qualifiers competition presented a whole new set of circumstances.
She was the No.1-ranked player in the team for the first time and well as playing her first home tie in Billie Jean King Cup.
Her first victory in Aussie colours, helped in part by 28 winners to 10, was the “cherry on top”.
“Every time I’ve ever played for Australia, it’s been so meaningful. But I think there was definitely an added layer considering, yeah, playing a home tie and it being in Brisbane and just everything this year has been amazing,” Birrell said.
“It definitely does make it really special and then to play well today and sort of finish this week on a high note, yeah, lots of memories made and feeling very grateful.”
