Australian Fed Cup captain Alicia Molik is wary her team cant afford to enter this weekends must-win World Group II Play-off against Serbia over-confident.
Australias hopes of retaining their World Group II place for 2018 have been given a boost by the absence of Serbias top-ranked player and former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic for the tie.
It probably helps us that Jankovic, their best player, isnt playing, but they are still going to be a really tough team, Molik said.
Australian players Ash Barty, Destanee Aiava and Casey Dellacqua prepared for the important tie at a Fed Cup training camp in Melbourne last week. The team departed for Serbia yesterday, where world No.27 Daria Gavrilova will meet them. The 23-year-old arrived in Serbia last week following a third round run at the WTA event in Charleston.
In Jankovics absence, the Serbian team will be led by world No.126 Nina Stojanovic and world No.132 Aleksandra Krunic.
The tie, played on an indoor hard court in the Serbian city of Zrenjanin, begins on 22 April.
