Australia and Belarus shared the spoils on day one of their Fed Cup semifinal here on Saturday with Ashleigh Barty sweeping past Victoria Azarenka while Aryna Sabalenka ground down Samantha Stosur.
With the tie poised at 1-1, the reverse singles on Sunday will be critical, with World No. 9 Barty first up against 10th-ranked Sabalenka before the veteran pair of Stosur and Azarenka face off.
That combination will see Barty and Stosur team up against Lidziya Marozava and Vera Lapko if the tie goes that far.
An ice cool Barty, who has rocketed through the ranks, breaking into the top 10 with her win at the Miami Open this month, proved too much for tour doubles partner Azarenka, winning 7-6(2), 6-3.
It hauled Australia back into the tie after Sabalenka toiled for 2hrs 47mins to battle past former US Open champion Stosur 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in the opening rubber.
Halep too good
Meanwhile in Rouen (France), World No. 2 Simona Halep outclassed Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-1 to give Romania a 1-0 lead over France.
French captain Julien Benneteau took a gamble on Mladenovic, who reached the top 10 in late 2017 but had won only 24 of her last 70 matches to slip to 66.
The result:At Brisbane: Australia 1 vs Belarus 1 [Samantha Stosur lost to Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 5-7, 6-3; Ashleigh Barty bt Victoria Azarenka 7-6(2), 6-3].
At Rouen: France 0 vs Romania [Kristina Mladenovic lost to Simona Halep 6-3, 6-1].
