TEEN tennis sensation Mika Stojsavljevic made a winning start to life in British colours but admitted: “I can’t remember the last point.”
The 17-year-old debutant was handed a singles bow by captain Anne Keothavong as a patched-up Britain side faced Australia Down Under in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers.
And the Londoner, who only took her GCSEs last summer, stunned world No56 Talia Gibson – ranked more than 200 places above her – 7-6 7-5 in the opening rubber in Melbourne.
Stojsavljevic, the former US Open junior girls champion, was stunned by her own performance and she says the match point was played in a blur.
She had been called up for the 21,000-mile round trip for the matches in what is commonly known as the World Cup after injured Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal and soon-to-be-hitched Katie Boulter – who went on her hen do – were not available for selection.
The world No275 said: “It feels amazing. I can’t believe it. I can’t even remember the last point.
“I had amazing support from the side and managed to get through.
“It was an amazing atmosphere out there. Obviously I know they were mostly for her but it was great to have our little team there on the side.
“I heard them a lot more than I heard the rest of the crowd.
“When I got the call up from Anne, I couldn’t believe it to be honest.
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“Obviously I knew that some of the other girls weren’t available.
“I thought that was a good thing for me really because I was honoured to make the team.
“And when Anne said that I could play singles as well, that was even more incredible.
“So I thought I was ready and I think I showed that to myself more than anything – and I’m proud of how I handled it.”
In the second singles match, Harriet Dart fought back from a set down to beat Kimberly Birrell 4-6 6-3 6-3 as Britain led 2-0 overnight.
The winner of the tie will advance to the eight-nation finals in the Chinese city of Shenzhen in September while the losers face a playoff in November.
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