By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday November 10, 2022
Team Australia is back in the semis at BJK Cup, and believing they can win.
Photo credit: Jane Barlow/PA/Getty
Australia has moved into the semi-finals at the BJK Cup for the second consecutive year.
And the hope is that they can go all the way...
They green and gold blanked Belgium on Thursday in Glasgow, getting another huge contribution from Storm Sanders, who ripped past Alison Van Uytvanck, 6-2, 6-2, before the team’s No.1 Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Elise Mertens via a third-set retirement.
Sanders, who reached as high as No.8 in the doubles rankings this year (currently 10), has gone 2-0 in singles so far in these BJK Cup Finals, believes that the best may be yet to come for Team Australia.
“I feel like last year was maybe a bit more of a surprise that we were in the semifinals given that, we probably didn't get to play our strongest team on paper with Ajla getting sick and Ash not playing and whatnot,” the current World No.237 in singles said.
Sanders, who paired with Sam Stosur to win the doubles tilt on Thursday over Ysaline Bonaventure and Kirsten Flipkens, believes that ranking isn’t important in the grand scheme of BJK Cup.
“I guess that just proved that what we have is great and enough and doesn't really matter,” she said. “I feel like in this type of team competition the rankings or what's on the paper. I feel like coming in, our goal, we are not here to participate, we are here to try and win this event.
“Everyone on the team, it's a priority for us to win that. Even throughout the year, being an Australian, it's a huge honor to be here and play for our country and we really want to try and do the best we can. So, you know, semifinals is, yeah, a good step, but yeah, we're here for more.”
Australia goes 2-0 in Group B Action, winning five of six rubbers. Slovakia, at 1-1 takes second in the group, while Belgium (0-2) is in last.
They will face the Group C winner – Spain, Kazakhstan or Great Britain – in the semis.