31 January 2019 | Tennis Queensland

Queenslanders will make up more than half of Australia’s Fed Cup team when they take on 2018 finalists USA in Asheville, North Carolina from 9-10 February,

World No.14 Ashleigh Barty leads the Queensland charge alongside Priscilla Hon and Kimberly Birrell. Daria Gavrilova (Vic) and Astra Sharma (WA) have also been named in the five-strong squad.

Barty, off the back of an impressive summer campaign where she became the first Australian female quarterfinalist at the Australian Open in 10 years, is currently sitting at a career-high ranking.

Kimberly Birrell also hit a career high of world No. 157 following her incredible run to the Australian Open third round, and scoring wins over quality opponents [12] Daria Kasatkina, [30] Donna Vekic and [44] Kristina Mladenovic.

Priscilla Hon has experienced Fed Cup as an ‘orange girl’ and will play for full selection. Hon also achieved a career high ranking this January of world No. 136 and is currently at world No. 146.

Hon, Sharma and Birrell will all push for selection as they play-off for a spot in the final four during the week leading into the tie.

Barty’s versatility will again be pivotal to the teams’ success with her proven ability in singles and doubles, and the only player in the world with a top 15 singles ranking and a top 10 doubles ranking.

“This is a quality team and I’m very happy with our selection,” Fed Cup captain, Alicia Molik said.

“Ash has had an incredible summer and she loves the Fed Cup environment. It’s very exciting to see her step into a leadership role and I know she’ll set the standard in terms of professionalism.

“Dasha is also a great team player and is motivated to start the year well. She and Ash will be happy to share their knowledge with our talented young group of Priscilla, Kim and Astra. They’ve all had tremendous experience over the summer and deserve the opportunity to represent their country.

“We are really thrilled to be back in the World Group for the first time since 2015, this tie is a great opportunity for the girls to prove the strength o women’s tennis in Australia right now and I think it’s going to be a great battle.”