Kimberly Birrell to lead Billie Jean King Cup team, in crowning moment after injury return
In the dark days after her second elbow surgery, Kimberly Birrell could hardly imagine getting back on the tennis court. This is how she came back to become Australia’s No.1 female tennis player.
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In the dark days after her second elbow surgery, Kimberly Birrell could hardly imagine getting back on the tennis court, let alone establishing herself inside the world’s top 100.
Birrell, Australia’s highest-ranked women’s player, is set for a pinch-me moment when she leads Australia in their Billie Jean King Cup campaign in Brisbane in April.
Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena will host qualifying rounds of the Billie Jean King Cup from April 10-12, where Australia will face Kazakhstan and Colombia, needing to win the group to progress to the finals in China.
Just a few years ago, Birrell’s body betrayed her again - her dodgy right elbow needing a second surgery that kept her off court for almost two years - and left her questioning whether she could find the strength to push on.
But the pay-off - figuratively at first, and literally, since her ranking has improved enough to ensure she makes the main draw of grand slams without the need to progress through nerve-racking qualifying or rely on wildcards - has made every torturous moment worthwhile.
“Rehab, it is really tough,” said Birrell.
“You spend a lot of time on your own and you reflect and have moments where you think: ‘what am I doing, and is this worth it?’
“But what I’ve been through and been able to achieve in the last month, playing at home, especially with my friends and family around, I think that was so worth it and I’m so glad I stuck with it and kept going.
“Even sometimes when I didn’t necessarily feel like I could, I’m glad I found extra strength.”
Birrell’s last two months have included a win over world no.8 Emma Navarro on the way to the Brisbane International quarter-finals, making the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open and winning an ITF W75 event in Brisbane.
The results pushed her ranking to a career-high no.75, a life-changing threshold that means she will be able to have someone travel with her for most of the 38 weeks of the year she is on tour.
That’s usually younger brother and hitting partner Cade, an aspiring player toiling on the ITF tour, or boyfriend Matt Fraser - as well as occasionally, coaches Nicole Pratt or Chris Mahony, who have helped push the baseliner to new heights.
“It opens up so many doors,” she said of being inside the top 100.
“You are in a lot more main draws of tournaments throughout the year, including the grand slams. Not only does it help with your scheduling and make everything a lot more clear but it’s a big financial help as well.
“As long as you stay healthy and you’re playing the slams, you know that you’re sort of not just breaking even anymore, you’re going to be pocketing some of that money and all that hard work that you put in for basically a lifetime to become a tennis player and a lot of family sacrifices, are starting to pay off.”
It’s a far cry from life on the tour just a couple of years ago, when Birrell, returning from surgery and with a protected ranking, played Wimbledon qualifiers one week before finding herself on the synthetic grass in Portugal the next, playing in front of only her boyfriend and coach in a lowly challenger event.
“It’s definitely a journey … but I wouldn’t change anything and it just makes me appreciate what I’ve been through and where I’ve come from,” she said.
“I think what I’ve gone through has made me into such a hard worker, given me that extra bit of grit and determination that I can lean on when I’m on court in a tight moment and I just don’t take anything for granted.”
It also makes the good times even sweeter.
Before taking to Rod Laver Arena with fellow Queenslander JP Smith in the Australian Open mixed doubles finals in January, Birrell found herself marvelling at her change in fortune.
“With my injuries I didn’t expect to ever make it to a grand slam final,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I had a bit of a reflection, because I didn’t think that being making it to the end of a grand slam would be on the cards for me, so that was pretty cool.”
“Cool”, too, is having a ranking that allows forward planning for the family and friends who have been so supportive over the years.
Parents John and Ros have already booked trips to the French Open and Wimbledon and organised caretakers for the Tennis Plus centre they run on the Gold Coast, while away.
Before that though, they’ll take the hour-long trip up the M1 to the Queensland Tennis Centre, where Birrell will lead the Australian women into battle in the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I’m so thrilled that Brisbane and the Queensland Tennis Centre is going to be hosting the tie in April,” Birrell said.
“For me as a Queenslander, it was the best news. It pretty much feels like home up here - I’ve spent a lot of hours playing on Pat Rafter Arena.
“I don’t really see myself as the number one Aussie. I’m just on my own journey doing what I love and trying not to think too much about rankings … but at the same time, it’s cool to hear ‘the number one Aussie representing Australia in Brisbane’.
“I don’t even know if I would have believed it (as a young player), I would have been so happy.”
Australia will play Kazakhstan on April 10, with Colombia and Kazakhstan facing each other on April 11 and the Aussies taking on Colombia on April 12.
Tickets, from $20, go on sale on Thursday at 3pm AEST via Ticketmaster.
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