Teenager Mika Stojsavljevic shines as Britain take control of BJK Cup tie with Australia

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gibson-talia/8GwNXON6/"]Gibson[/a] beat three top-20 players at Indian Wells en route to the quarter-finals last month and was ranked 219 places higher than the teenager at 56.[/p][p]But [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stojsavljevic-mika/YyyT3fOe/"]Stojsavljevic[/a] was in the zone on the hardcourts at Melbourne's John Cain Arena, banging down 12 aces to win [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/gibson-t-8GwNXON6/stojsavljevic-m-YyyT3fOe/?mid=rR9KwHpS"]7-6(4), 7-5[/a].[/p][p]Her teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dart-harriet/h6Lq4OGA/"]Harriet Dart[/a] then battled past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/birrell-kimberly/S4ljFw3g/"]Kimberly Birrell[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/birrell-k-S4ljFw3g/dart-h-h6Lq4OGA/?mid=E90jYf8k"]4-6, 6-3, 6-3[/a] to give last year's semi-finalists Britain a 2-0 lead.[/p][p]A doubles and two reverse singles, if required, follow on Saturday.[/p][embed guid="bf189b9c-bef7-411f-9c42-f391d9482f87" url="https://x.com/BJKCup/status/2042460475301003471" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]It feels amazing. I can't believe it, to be honest[/b]," said Stojsavljevic, the 2024 US Open junior champion.[/p][p]"[b]I can't even remember the last point. I just played. I had amazing support on the sidelines and managed to get through[/b]."[/p][p]Both teams were without key players with seven-time champions Australia missing injured world number 30 Maya Joint.[/p][p]None of Britain's top four made the long trip with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raducanu-emma/YmIZde1B/"]Emma Raducanu[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boulter-katie/0SeXj3jT/"]Katie Boulter[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jones-francesca/OU6w8nNa/"]Fran Jones[/a] opting to focus on the European clay-court season, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kartal-sonay/nFb01JTe/"]Sonay Kartal[/a] hurt.[/p][p]It meant Stojsavljevic was thrown into the fray.[/p][p]The odds were stacked against her, but she broke early to take a 3-1 lead before Gibson rallied to force a tiebreak.[/p][p]The power-serving Stojsavljevic charged 4-0 ahead and held her nerve to take the opening set.[/p][p]Gibson slumped 4-1 behind in the second and when the Briton served for the match at 5-3 it looked to be over.[/p][p]But the Australian fought to stay in the hunt, only to be broken again at 5-6, and there was no way back.[/p][embed guid="6784ecfe-fcb2-4830-b195-adca8f7df82c" url="https://x.com/the_LTA/status/2042481267808018574" social-type="twitter" /][p]Dart and Birrell, ranked 173 and 80 respectively, shared the first two sets with the decisive game in the third coming at 3-3 when Dart broke before holding serve and breaking again.[/p][p]"[b]Kim is such an amazing player and such a fighter and I knew it was always going to be really, really tough, especially here in Aus[/b]tralia," said Dart.[/p][p]Seven ties are being played over Friday and Saturday, with defending champions Italy facing Japan at home and last year's runners-up, the United States, travelling to Belgium.[/p][p]The winners progress to the eight-team finals in China this September.[/p]