Barty’s season could be finished

WORLD No.1 Ash Barty has opted out of leading Australia at the Billie Jean King Cup teams event next month in Prague, another pointer to her international season being over.

Barty led Australia to the final of what was formerly the Fed Cup in 2019 before the newly named competition was abandoned last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barty has already returned to Australia and is unlikely to venture overseas to defend her season-ending WTA championship in Mexico, which would require a second stint of quarantine on return home.

That could seriously interrupt her buildup to the A u s t r a l i a n Open next January.

Barty’s decision to skip the 12-team Billie Jean King Cup finals from November 1-6 leaves Wimbledon quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic to spearhead an otherwise inexperienced Australian line-up.

Tomljanovic, who has reached a career-high world ranking of 47, will be joined by West Australians Astra Sharma and Storm Sanders, alongside debutants Ellen Perez from Wollongong and 19-yearold Queenslander Olivia Gadecki.

Australian captain Alicia Molik sees the absence of Barty (pictured) as a huge opportunity for Tomljanovic, who has had a career-best year that included losing to Barty in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

“Ajla has had an incredible year and this is a great opportunity for her to lead the team,” Molik said.

“Storm and Astra are both tremendous team players and it’s exciting to welcome Ellen and Olivia to the team for the first time.”

Sharma won her first WTA singles title in Charleston in April and her second WTA doubles title in Guadalajara partnering Perez.

Sanders has also had a breakout year, achieving a career-high singles ranking of number 123 last month.

Australia has been named in Group B alongside Belarus and Belgium.