Australia’s hopes of winning their first Billie Jean King Cup title in 50 years came to a crushing end on Sunday as they suffered a 2-0 defeat by Slovakia.
After Kimberly Birrell was beaten 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3 by Viktoria Hruncakova in a bruising tussle that lasted over two and a half hours, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic struggled badly with a left leg injury as she was dismantled 6-1, 6-2 by the in-form Rebecca Sramkova.
