Australia roll dice for Fed Cup final
PERTH: Captain Alicia Molik on Friday gambled with Ajla Tomljanovic instead of Samantha Stosur to play singles for Australia in the Fed Cup final, with the debutant opening the tie against France’s top player Kristina Mladenovic.
World number one and French Open champion Ashleigh Barty plays the second singles rubber on Saturday on the hardcourts of Perth Arena against Caroline Garcia in what are expected to be stifling hot conditions.
Those four players are scheduled to be part of the reverse singles on Sunday, although that can change, before a potentially decisive doubles clash, where the massively experienced Stosur is set to partner Barty against Garcia and Mladenovic.
It means Australian young guns Astra Sharma and Priscilla Hon will cheer from the sidelines, along with France’s Alize Cornet, Fiona Ferro and Pauline Parmentier.
Picking Tomljanovic was a bold move by Molik as Australia bid for a first title in 45 years, with Stosur her country’s most successful ever singles player, spanning 16 years of Fed Cup action.
But she has been struggling over recent times, in contrast to Croatian-born Tomljanovic, who only recently became eligible for Australia, who has had a good year and spent most of it inside the world’s top 50.
“It is exceptionally tough to decide your two singles players for day one. For us it was a matter of match-ups and I feel like we are going in with our strongest two players for Saturday,” said Molik.
Seven-time champions Australia have not tasted success in the tournament since 1974, while France are aiming for a third crown and first since 2003.
‘LOT OF OPTIONS’
France captain Juli en Ben ne te au has kept faith with the team who sealed their semi-final win over Romania, with Mladenovic, ranked 40, and 45th-ranked Garcia shouldering the burden again in Perth. “I have five very good players who are ready to go, but for me and my staff the best options are Caroline and Kristina,” he said. “We have full confidence in them to bring us two points (on Saturday).
“We know that during a Fed Cup weekend there are alot of emotions and physically tough matches, so we know we have a lot of options for Sunday,” he added.