Team spirit the key as Sanders and Tomljanovic seal victory for Australia

It may only be day one, but life is pretty good for Australia at the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals in Glasgow.

A 2-1 victory over Slovakia has sent them top of Group B, meaning they can seal their qualification for the semi-finals when they face Belgium on Thursday, and the team are enjoying their time together in Scotland. 

Storm Sanders beat Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4 6-3 in the opening match on Tuesday which set up Ajla Tomljanovic to clinch the winning point for the green and gold with a commanding 6-1 6-2 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Afterwards, both players described the women’s World Cup of Tennis as their “favourite week of the year”. 

“We have such a good team spirit,” Tomljanovic said. “In our country, we love sport, we love camaraderie, we love team events. I think a lot of our players thrive in this environment.” 

Certainly, Australia have performed well in this competition in recent years, reaching the final in 2019 and the semi-finals last year, and Sanders and Tomljanovic have been at the heart of those efforts. 

At last year’s Finals in Prague, Sanders defied the rankings to upset Elise Mertens, so it was no surprise to see her named in Australia’s line-up against Slovakia, despite being ranked lower than teammate Priscilla Hon. Sanders repaid the faith shown in her by captain Alicia Molik, overcoming some early nerves to put in an excellent performance to beat Kuzmova. 

The Slovakian started well on Tuesday morning, breaking Sanders to move 4-3 ahead in the opening set. But Sanders quickly refocused and stepped up her game impressively. She broke back immediately, dug herself out of a hole to hold from 0-30, and then broke again to pinch the opening set. 

With the momentum now firmly in Sanders’ favour, Kuzmova did her best to stem the tide, setting up break point at 1-1 in the second set, only for Sanders to save it with a powerful forehand winner down the line. That proved to be a decisive moment. Soon after, a sloppy service game from Kuzmova handed Sanders a 4-2 lead and she didn’t look back.

For Sanders, the vibes are similar to those she felt twelve months ago. 

“Last year brings me a lot of confidence, knowing that I can produce that type of tennis in this environment,” she said. “We have such great team chemistry. Our best players put their hands up. I spend a lot of the year on my own travelling, so to have 13, 14 people, it's a lot of fun. I'm really close with a lot of them, a lot are coming to my wedding next week from the team.”

With Tomljanovic in red hot form, there may well be double cause for celebration next week. The Australian No.1 has enjoyed the best season of her career, reaching back-to-back Grand Slam quarter-finals, and rising to a career-high of No.33 in the world. With today’s victory over Schmiedlova, which was more competitive than the scoreline suggested, she has now won 22 of her last 31 matches. 

When asked what has clicked for her in 2022, Tomljanovic said: “A lot of things. But mostly, if I have to put it to one thing, it's just where my head's at in my life. I think that translates to the court. I'm happy. Tennis is fun again. Even when I'm losing, I'm finding joy, which is really all it's ever been and it's supposed to be. I lost it a little bit there for a year or so. But it happens. It's okay. We love what we do, but tough times come and that's okay, but I figured it out.” 

It wasn’t quite a perfect day for Australia as Sanders and Ellen Perez went down 6-2 3-6 6-10 to Kuzmova and Tereza Mikhailikova in the doubles tie, with the Slovakian pair mounting an impressive comeback to give themselves some momentum going into tomorrow’s tie with Belgium.