Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup team ousted from the competition before quarter-finals for first time in a decade

Australia hasn’t won the Billie Jean King Cup since 1974 and despite a home qualifying tie were bundled out of the competition in an unusual way.

The comfort of a home qualification tie did little for the Australian Billie Jean King Cup outfit that was ousted from the competition without hitting a ball on Friday.

A day after the Australians were demolished 2-1 by Kazakhstan, former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and world No.23 Yulia Putintseva backed up to crush Colombia in just over two hours in Brisbane to seal the home team’s fate.

It’s the first time in almost a decade the Australians, who are scheduled to play Colombia on Saturday in what now sits as a dead rubber, have been ousted before the quarter-finals.

Finals bound ✈️

Elena Rybakina seals the tie for Team Kazakhstan to finish top of Group D in Brisbane.#BJKCuppic.twitter.com/pTwKfOYZkH

— Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) April 11, 2025

Australia hasn’t won the tournament, formally known as the Fed Cup, since 1974 but were runners-up in 2019 and 2022.

But needing the lowly ranked Colombians to cause a major boilover to progress out of the three-team Group D qualifying stages, captain Sam Stosur’s team won’t have another chance until 2026 of adding to the seven titles.

A win in the doubles on Thursday by Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez was Australia’s only consolation after both Kimberley Birrell and Maya Joint both lost their singles.

Their conquerors went back to work on Friday, with Rybakina thrashing Colombia’s Valentina Mediorreal 6-0 6-1 in just 37 minutes at Pat Rafter Arena before Putintseva took care of Yuliana Lizarazo 6-1 6-2 in less than an hour in the second singles match.