Australia finish Billie Jean King Cup qualifier with thrashing of Colombia

Playing for pride, Australia bounced back from its loss to Kazakhstan with a win over Colombia in the Billie Jean King Cup Group D qualifier in Brisbane.

Captain Sam Stosur has praised her Australian team for a ruthless performance in its “dead” Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Colombia at Pat Rafter Arena.

Despite having already failed in their bid to reach the Cup finals after losing to Group D winners Kazakhstan on Thursday, the Australians delighted the Brisbane crowd by trouncing the South Americans 3-0 on Saturday.

Teenager Maya Joint started the onslaught by thrashing world No.734 Yuliana Monroy 6-1 6-0 in just 45 minutes.

Joint’s effort was later backed up by Kimberly Birrell, who gave the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the best-of-three rubber contest with a 6-1 6-3 win in 78 minutes over world No.684 Yuliana Lizarazo.

Australian doubles pair Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez provided the icing on the cake with a 6-0 6-1 demolition of Valentina Mediorreal Arias and Maria Paulina Perez-Garcia in just 39 minutes.

While Kazakhstan, who similarly whitewashed Colombia 3-0 on Friday, will advance to September’s Cup finals in China, the Australians will have to settle for a spot in November’s playoffs, where they will bid to secure a berth in next year’s Cup qualifiers.

Australia's non-playing captain Sam Stosur (right) congratulates Maya Joint on her win over Colombia's Yuliana Monroy. Picture: Patrick HAMILTON / AFP

“It’s always nice to get wins, no matter what the situation,” non-playing captain Stosur said.

“All the players went out there with the thought of that at the front of their minds. They wanted to finish the weekend on a high.

“They all played fantastic, didn’t let up, and that’s not necessarily the easiest thing to do when it’s a bit of a dead match, but it still means something to these players representing their country, and playing as best they can.

“Regardless of the overall result, they should all be very happy with their performance (on Saturday) and very proud of that they did.”

Both Birrell and Joint had been beaten on Thursday by Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva respectively in Kazakhstan’s 2-1 overall defeat of Australia on Thursday.

It was 18-year-old Joint’s debut for Australia, with her straight sets loss to Putintseva loss giving her plenty of motivation to bounce back on Saturday.

“It feels really good to come back after a loss two days ago,” she said.

“This team has been so amazing. They’ve lifted me up and made me play really well (against Monroy). It’s just amazing to be among such inspiring women.

“I felt really good out on court and I was able to play the way I wanted to, which was really nice.”

Gold Coast-raised Birrell said she told herself to “stay in the moment and play it point by point,” on Saturday.

“To play well today and to finish this week on a high note, there have been lots of memories made and I’m feeling very grateful,” Birrell said.

Originally published as Australia finish Billie Jean King Cup qualifier with thrashing of Colombia