Barty leads Australia to Fed Cup victory over Ukraine

CANBERRA: Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua put Australia into the Fed Cup World Group play-offs with victory in the deciding doubles rubber over Ukraine in Canberra on Sunday.

Barty and Dellacqua eased past twin sisters Nadiia and Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-3, 6-4 after Nadiia had levelled the tie with a singles win over Daria Gavrilova. Australia will now move into the World Group play-offs in April, putting them one win away from the Fed Cup´s top-eight nations for the first time since 2015, while Ukraine will face a World Group II play-off. Barty was Australia´s leading light with her third victory of the weekend after beating both Lyudmyla Kichenok and Marta Kostyuk in her singles matches. Australia´s number one singles player Barty had defeated Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3 to put her country on the cusp of qualification only for Gavrilova to lose the fourth singles rubber.

World No. 26 Gavrilova completed a dismal weekend when she went down for the second time despite winning the opening set against unranked Nadiia Kichenok 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.