Aussies storm into Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals courtesy of mystery woman in Ash Barty’s Wimbledon box

Storm Sanders was best known as the mystery woman in Ash Barty’s courtside box for the Wimbledon final. Now she’s peeled off two big wins to get Australia into the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals.

Storm Sanders celebrates after defeating Yuliya Hatouka of Belarus. Picture: AFP.

The Billie Jean King Cup finals are so depleted Billie Jean King may get a hit for the Americans. Ash Barty is missing from the Australian squad but Alja Tomljanovic and her mate Storm Sanders have played with heart and soul to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious old teams event formerly known as the Fed Cup.

“There’s no greater feeling,” Tomljanovic said after climbing out of her sick bed to seal Friday’s 2-1 victory over Belarus that booked a semi-final against Switzerland at Prague’s O2 Arena. “I was happy that I got to come out today and the fact that I got a point for the team makes me unbelievably happy. I just feel like I came here to help the team and ended up doing that. I’m just so … happy.”

Sanders has had quite the year. Racked up more kilometres than Kay Cottee. Remember when Barty won Wimbledon? She climbed up to her supporters box and gave a kiss and a hug to her coach, Craig Tyzzer. More cuddles for her favourite bloke, Garry Kissick. And then she embraced the mystery woman standing in the front row in a green jumper. That was Sanders. They played doubles together at the Tokyo Olympics, narrowly missing a medal with a quarter-final loss.

Now Sanders is having her moment in the sun as Barty’s replacement at the BJK Cup finals. She’s done wonders as Australia’s second singles player. The world No 131 is a lefty from Rockhampton — a decent combination! — and she was over the moon when she beat Belarus’s world No 192 Yulia Hatouka 6-3 6-3 to play her role in the elevation to Saturday’s final four. In the big picture, it had actually been Sanders’ shock win over Belgium’s world No 18 Elise Mertens earlier in the week that opened the door for Australia to get this far. A win that left her saying, “That was a most incredible feeling. I’m still shaking.”

Storm Sanders (second on the left) celebrates Ash Barty’s Wimbledon win over Karolina Pliskova.

Sanders was on tour with Barty from March this year. She returned home after the US Open in September and did two weeks of hotel quarantine. Unlike Barty, who pulled stumps on her year, Sanders trained for three weeks before going to Prague. After losing in qualifying at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and bowed out in the opening rounds of the French Open and US Opens, her 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 triumph over Mertens was a true stunner.

“My first top-20 win and coming into the Australian summer as well — it’s very exciting,” Sanders said. “It was a long seven months away from home. Obviously very difficult to get back home to Australia. A lot of us Australian players did find it really tough — but a lot of us had really great results this year, which is something we can all be really proud of.”

The Australians will have their work cut out, but have a fighter’s chance, against a full-strength Switzerland boasting Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and world No 45 Viktorija Golubic.

The full Australian squad is Tomljanovic, Sanders, world No 200 Ellen Perez, world No 232 Olivia Gadecki and world No 412 Daria Gavrilova. “Honestly I never thought I’d be playing singles for Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup finals,” Sanders said. “To have two wins as well, honestly it’s a dream come true and I’m just really, really proud to be able to step out on court. All the girls have been playing really well the last week in practice. Having the team behind me is just awesome. For me to come out and deliver under pressure, it’s a great feeling.”

Tomljanovic was forced out of Australia’s opening tie against Belgium citing a “non-Covid-related illness.” Any tennis player with the sniffles these days can be heard shouting from the rooftops, “It’s not Covid!”

She’s had a commendable year, just quietly, while we’ve been busy watching Barty win so many trophies it would have been a challenge to get them into the overhead luggage compartment for her flight home. She reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals, where she lost to the eventual champion, and settled nicely into the world No 43 ranking upon arrival in Prague. After Sanders’ victory in the opening rubber against Belarus, Tomljanovic recovered from a 4-0 deficit to beat world No 88 Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6 6-2 6-3 and seal the semi-final spot.

“Stayed tough,” she said. “She played some great tennis those first six, seven games and I just tried to hang in there. I snagged a little break in the second set and played a good set. Then it got tricky – she raised her level in the third set – but in the end it was quality match. I’m so proud of our entire team.”