Ash Barty's heartbreak at Fed Cup defeat
Australia’s bid to end its 45-year Fed Cup drought has failed after France secured a 3-2 win in Perth on Sunday.
World number one Ash Barty and Samantha Stosur were defeated 4-6 3-6 in the fifth-rubber decider by French duo Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia, bringing France its third Fed Cup title.
French no. 1 Mladenovic – who ranked 40th in the world – also triumphed in both her single matches, including her 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) win against Barty.
Barty was visibly distraught at the trophy presentation.
“Obviously it’s bitterly disappointing to be sitting here not with the result that we were after,” the 23-year-old said.
“But all in all, it’s about taking a little bit of perspective and this team – this group of girls – personally, I wouldn’t want to be sitting here with anyone else.
“It’s been an amazing journey.”
Fed Cup debutant Ajla Tomljanović suffered a 1-6 1-6 loss against Mladenovic in the opening singles rubber but evened out the ledger with a 6-4 7-5 win over Pauline Parmentier.
“Honestly, I have never felt so sick after a match like I did yesterday,” Tomljanović said.
“It was such a different feeling compared to some other matches I’ve lost in my career.
“But there’s not a lot of time that you can dwell and this team is so unbelievable with the atmosphere and the energy … they’re so chilled but at the same time competitive, and that is maybe a bit like my personality. They really pulled me through after that loss.”
Australia captain Alicia Molik said she had no regrets.
“We gave everything today. We fell just a fraction short. That happens,” Molik said.
“I don’t regret any step of the way. We’ve had to come together for such a long period of time now. We’re such a close-knit team. We’ve faced so much adversity. We’ve done that for the last few years and this year particularly in Asheville and Brisbane. We were up against it for so much of the time.”
Molik praised Mladenovic’s performance at the final. “I think she carried all of the French team on her shoulders,” Molik said.
“It was an unbelievable display. She sort of took it out of our hands, I felt.”
France captain Julien Benneteau, who headed the team for the first time this year, said the victory was a “dream” come true.
“I’m the proudest man on the planet right now. I’m so proud of my girls and my team – they deserve it because they fought for a long time for this title,” he said.
“It’s a dream for me. I tried to imagine that at the beginning of the year when I knew that I could have the best team with me on the court. Now, eight months later, here we are.”