Storm Hunter wins first match at Billie Jean King Cup Finals for Australia despite travel trouble after WTA Finals

Australia’s Storm Hunter won her first match at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville despite a “quick turnaround” from the WTA Finals in Cancun.

Hunter, the world No. 1 women’s doubles player, landed in Spain without her luggage just a few hours before her BJK Cup Finals match with team-mate Kimberly Birrell.

The 29-year-old had been competing alongside Belgium’s Elise Mertens at the WTA Finals, exiting the prestigious end-of-season tournament at the semi-final stage.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the team, I’m so proud to come out and get a win with Kimbo [Birrell] for Australia today,” Hunter said.

“It’s been a busy 24 hours. Obviously as soon as I finished in Cancun, tried to get here as soon as I could, ended up landing at 8:30 this morning.

“My bags didn’t arrive, so that made it a bit tricky, but I had some racquets on me and was prepared to play today. I had my outfit, my shoes, and mentally was ready to go if our team needed that.

“It was obviously a quick turnaround, but for me, representing my country is the greatest honour and, honestly, the most amazing thing I can ever do with my tennis career.”

Hunter and Birrell defeated Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec and Ela Milic 7-5 6-7(2) 10-5, getting a point on the board for Australia in Group B.

But tournament debutantes Slovenia took the overall victory, with Kaja Juvan easing past Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 6-1, and Tamara Zidansek beating Daria Saville 6-1 6-4.

In Group A, Czech Republic secured a dominant victory against Switzerland, winning all three of their matches.

Linda Noskova battled to overcome fellow 18-year-old Celine Naef 7-6(2) 4-6 6-4, before Marie Bouzkova triumphed 6-4 6-4 against Viktorija Golubic.

Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, who exited the WTA Finals in the round-robin stage, achieved the clean sweep in the doubles encounter, beating Golubic and Jil Teichmann 7-6(3) 6-2.

Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova is in the Czech team for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, but she was rested following her appearance at the WTA Finals, where she exited after the group stage.

King, whom the tournament formerly known as the Fed Cup was named after in 2020, suggested to reporters that the blame lay with the WTA.

Competition at the Billie Jean King Cup continues with Spain’s Group C encounter against Canada, and a Group D clash between France and Italy.