Switzerland lose to Czech Republic, Slovenia beat Australia

A few short hours after arriving in Seville, Australia’s Storm Hunter triumphed in her doubles match at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, despite the challenge of losing her luggage.

However, her victory alongside Kimberly Birrell was not enough to prevent the 2022 runners-up from suffering a loss against Slovenia.

“It was obviously a quick turnaround, but for me, representing my country is the greatest honor,” Hunter expressed.

Later on the opening day, holders Switzerland fell to the Czech Republic.

Hunter, the world’s top-ranked doubles player, was among the stars who had to travel from the season-ending WTA Finals in Mexico to the BJK Cup Finals in Seville.

Hunter partnered with Belgium’s Elise Mertens in Cancun on Sunday, where the pair was defeated in the semi-finals.

“It’s been a busy 24 hours. As soon as I finished in Cancun, I tried to get here as soon I could. Ended up landing at 8-8:30am this morning,” Hunter described the hectic experience.

“Bags didn’t arrive, so that made it a bit tricky, but I had some rackets on me and I was prepared to play. I had my outfit, my shoes, and mentally I was ready to go if our team needed that.”

In the 12-nation women’s team event known as the Fed Cup, Slovenia secured victory on their finals debut after Kaja Juvan and Tamara Zidansek won their singles matches.

Juvan emerged victorious with a score of 6-4, 6-1 against Ajla Tomljanovic, who spent most of the season sidelined following knee surgery, before Zidansek defeated Daria Saville 6-1, 6-4.

Hunter and Birrell secured a win with a score of 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 10-5 against Veronika Erjavec and Ela Milic, an outcome that could prove crucial in the round-robin stage.

Later on Tuesday, Czech debutants Marie Bouzkova and Linda Noskova won their singles matches to claim victory against the Swiss.

It gave the Czechs an unassailable lead in the best-of-three tie, with doubles pair Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova sealing a clean sweep.

Switzerland was without Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, who announced her pregnancy last week, as Celine Naef was defeated 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-4 by fellow 18-year-old Noskova and Viktorija Golubic lost 6-4, 6-4 to Bouzkova.

The Czechs, who won their most recent title in 2018, rested Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova after her participation in the WTA Finals last week.

However, Krejcikova and Siniakova, who also competed in the season-ending event, showed no sign of fatigue as they won 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 against Golubic and Jil Teichmann.