Photo credit: Getty Images. Written by Elizabeth Botcherby. Auteur pour BBC Sports. 56 minutes ago. Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage secured their doubles match in straight sets, propelling Great Britain into the September Billie Jean King Cup finals with a commanding 3-0 victory over Australia. Partnering for the first time, Dart and Burrage beat Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez 6-3, 16-3, 6-4 on the hard courts in Melbourne to seal the best-of-five qualifying tie. Great Britain had previously taken both singles rubbers on Friday, as 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic upset Talia Gibson – ranked over 200 spots higher – in straight sets on her debut, followed by Dart’s comeback win from a set deficit against Kimberly Birrell. “That feels amazing,” said Burrage. “I’m proud of how we played, how we started strong, and how we managed to seal the win.” Great Britain, the 2025 semi-finalists, entered the tie as underdogs, missing four singles top-100 players—Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Fran Jones, and Sonay Kartal. Yet they surpassed the gap in rankings and experience to advance to the finals for the third consecutive year. After getting broken in their first service game and falling behind 3-1, Dart and Burrage rallied with five straight games to claim the opening set. All four players faltered on serve during a chaotic second set, featuring four breaks in a row before tying at 3-3. Great Britain clinched the crucial break in the ninth game, after which Burrage stayed composed to seal the victory. “They’re two great players.”
