Great Britain entered their Billie Jean King Cup tie with Australia with an incredibly depleted squad of players.
Emma Raducanu withdrew from the Billie Jean King Cup and she was followed by Katie Boulter, Fran Jones, and Sonay Kartal.
Great Britain’s hopes were made worse as Australia named an impressive squad, including in-form Talia Gibson and rising star Emerson Jones.
Despite being the heavy underdog, Great Britain got off to a flying start thanks to an incredibly exciting teenage talent.
Mika Stojsavljevic announces herself on the big stage
Mika Stojsavljevic was called up for her Billie Jean King Cup debut to replace some of Great Britain’s biggest stars.
Not overawed by the big occasion, the 17-year-old star defeated Gibson in straight sets to give Great Britain the lead.
Gibson has been in red-hot form recently, reaching the quarter-finals of Indian Wells and the round of 16 at the Miami Open.
Sonay Kartal is now Britain’s best WTA player… do you agree? 🤔
Is Emma Raducanu still the best? Let us know in the comments ⬇️
Stojsavljevic, the current world number 275, is ranked over 200 places below Gibson in the WTA Tour rankings.
Speaking after the victory, Stojsavljevic said: “Yeah it feels amazing. I can’t believe it to be honest. I can’t even remember the last point. I had amazing support on the side and managed to get through.
“Going into it I obviously knew she would have the home crowd, but I’m really grateful to the people who were supporting GB today.
“Obviously I had my team so I didn’t really notice it much, but the support I got was more than enough. I thank everyone for the support today. It was a good match, I thought we have very similar games.
“Quite aggressive, but happy I got through it. I love Melbourne. When I found out that we drew Australia and I got selected I was so excited I was finally coming back because I wasn’t here for the Aussie Open this year.”
Stojsavljevic will next play Kimberly Birrell in the next rubber as she looks to continue her incredible form for Great Britain.
Great Britain take a surprise 2-0 lead against Australia
Great Britain’s hopes of qualifying for the next stage of the Billie Jean King Cup were further boosted in Melbourne.
Harriet Dart stunned Birrell to take a three-set victory and put her nation into the ascendency, with just one more match to win to secure their place in the next round.
Dart beat Birrell 4-6 6-3 6-3 in a two hour-plus battle marred by multiple breaks of serves and difficult serving patches.
With a doubles match and the reverse fixtures to come, underdogs Great Britain are now the favourites to proceed.
The winner of the tie will head into September’s finals, which takes place Shenzhen, China between 22–27 September 2026.
The only team currently set for the finals is the host nation, with a further seven to be confirmed from the qualifying fixtures.
