Sam Stosur guides Australia to Fed Cup win in Slovakia

Samantha Stosur saved Australia’s Fed Cup blushes in spearheading a stunning victory over Slovakia, and joined rarefied company in the process. The world No27 won all three matches she contested in the World Group II tie in Bratislava to book Australia a place in the World Group playoffs in April, with their opponent to be decided next week.

Team captain Alicia Molik is counting down the days to find out who now stands between them and a return to the World Group. “We’ll be playing off to be back in the top eight in the world - that’s where everyone feels we deserve to be and we’re good enough to be,” team captain Alicia Molik told AAP.

“We’ve been a part of the top eight nations for the past five or six years and the team’s incredibly disappointed that we fell out of the top eight. Now our goal is to make it back up there. We’re hungry to get back there and create opportunities for ourselves again.”

Stosur prevailed in both singles matches, including a tough 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 win over world No29 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Sunday, and the come-from-behind 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 over Slovak pair Jana Cepelova and Daniela Hantuchova.

It cemented Stosur’s place in Australian Fed Cup history, taking her career win-loss record to 36-15. That edged her past the likes of Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Margaret Smith Court and Dianne Balestrat and gives her more wins than all but Wendy Turnbull (46-16) and Kerry Reid (37-10).

More than that, captain Alicia Molik argues, it removes the doubts over her ability to perform in high-pressure situations. “It just proves she’s gutsy, she’s brave and she can play under immense pressure,” Molik said.

“There’s no more pressure than holding your country up, having to win two singles to keep us alive. And then finishing it off in the doubles as well after backing up after two big days, it’s a real effort. It’s a real testament to her character and the type of tennis player and person she is – she does take it all in her stride and she can handle the load exceptionally well.”

The veteran doubles pairing of Stosur and Casey Dellacqua fought back from a set down to defeat Jana Cepelova and Daniela Hantuchova 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 and claim the tie 3-2. As she’d done all weekend, Stosur again came up big in the fifth-and-deciding rubber – holding serve in the crucial third set.

With both countries trading breaks of serve, Stosur produced a big hold to give the visitors the edge – either side of breaking both Cepelova and Hantuchova’s serve to take a 5-2 lead before Dellacqua calmly served out the match.

Stosur had earlier recovered from being 5-1 down in the opening set against Schmiedlova to take the rubber 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 and give the visitors a 2-1 lead. It was short-lived, as 17-year-old Kimberly Birrell was swept aside by former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1 in 75 minutes.