Barty eyes Fed victory

ASHLEIGH Barty believes Australia can break a 45-year Fed Cup title drought after piloting the one-time tennis superpower back into the World Group for the first time since 2015.

Barty’s back-to-back singles wins over Quirine Lemoine and Lesley Kerkhove led Australia to a 4-1 victory over the Netherlands in their World Group playoff in Wollongong.

Barty, the world No.19, craves a crack at the title that has eluded Australia since 1974.

Australia face a quarter-final against one of the top four seeds, likely to be Czech Republic, USA, France or Germany.