Australia will contest their first Fed Cup final in almost 30 years when they take on France in Perth. The tie will be held at the RAC Arena, with play to commence at 2pm (AEDT) on both Saturday, November 9 and Sunday, November 10.
As Perth is three hours behind the east coast, it means the start of play will be 11am local time each day. If you’re in Queensland, that’ll be 1pm, while South Australian’s will want to tune in from 1:30pm and those in the Northern Territory from 12:30pm.
Fed Cup ties in the world group are made up of five ties, with two singles matches on Saturday, followed by reverse singles on Sunday and a deciding doubles match if need be.
The Australian team haven’t played a final since 1993, and haven’t won one since 1974. The sustained period of limited success followed a period where Australia won seven Fed Cup tournaments in ten years, when the team was led by the likes of Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court.
Now led by World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, who plays alongside Samantha Stosur, Ajla Tomljanovic, Astra Sharma and Priscilla Hon, the hosts have a huge shot at taking another crown, although the French won’t be easy beats.
One of the top nations in women’s tennis, they have highly-ranked stars Kristina Mladenovic, Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet to lead the charge.
Dates: Saturday, November 9 – Sunday, November 10
Start time: 2pm (AEDT) – both days
Expected finish time: 5:30pm (AEDT) – Saturday, 8pm – Sunday
Venue: RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia
TV: Live, Channel 9
Online: Live, 9Now
Betting: Australia $1.85, France $1.95
Overall record: Played 6, Australia 5, France 1
Australia
Player | Singles rank | Doubles rank |
---|---|---|
Ashleigh Barty | 1 | 19 |
Ajla Tomljanovic | 51 | 159 |
Samantha Stosur | 96 | 12 |
Astra Sharma | 108 | 136 |
Priscilla Hon | 126 | 641 |
Team captain: Alicia Molik |
France
Player | Singles rank | Doubles rank |
---|---|---|
Kristina Mladenovic | 40 | 2 |
Caroline Garcia | 45 | 247 |
Alize Cornet | 60 | 111 |
Fiona Ferro | 63 | 284 |
Pauline Parmentier | 122 | 832 |
Team captain: Julian Benneteau |
Match | Day | Expected time | Australia | France |
---|---|---|---|---|
Singles – 1 | Saturday | 2pm | Ajla Tomljanovic | Kristina Mladenovic |
Singles – 2 | Saturday | 4pm | Ashleigh Barty | Caroline Garcia |
Reverse singles – 3 | Sunday | 2pm | Ashleigh Barty | Kristina Mladenovic |
Reverse singles – 4 | Sunday | 4pm | Ajla Tomljanovic | Caroline Garcia |
Doubles – 5 | Sunday | 6:30pm | Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur | Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia |
This tie, under a broadcast agreement with Tennis Australia, will be broadcast by the Nine Network. Coverage will start at 2pm (AEDT) each day on their main channel, however, will move to 9Gem at 6pm in each state’s local time on both days if it’s still running.
That means you’ll be able to live stream all five matches of the final on 9Now.
Here at The Roar, you’ll be able to follow the action with our live scores, blogs and highlights.