Jodie Barrage and Harriet Dart won their doubles match against Australia in straight sets in a Billie Jean King Cup qualifier, giving Great Britain a 3-0 win.
The British duo cruised to victory in Melbourne, defeating Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez 6-3, 6-4.
Ballage and Dart led 3-1 in the first set, but led in five straight games after the roof of John Cain Arena closed.
After exchanging breaks early in the second set, the British pair served out the match on their first attempts, sealing victory for Anne Keotavon’s side.
“I feel great,” said an emotional Ballage, who underwent surgery last year for torn tendons in his wrist and torn ligaments in his ankle. “I’m proud of the way we played and the way we were able to close out the game.”
Dart added: “It’s really crazy because we played pretty well and to be able to make it to the finals is just kind of surreal.”
Dart and debutant Mika Stoisavljevic (17) led the team in the absence of Emma Raducanu, Sonaj Kartal, Katie Boulter and Fran Jones in their singles win against a much better opponent on Friday.
Katie Swan was named as her final opponent against former junior world number one Emerson Jones, but a back issue occurred in the second set and Katie Swan lost 7-5, 6-3.
Britain won the final four qualifying rubbers for the Billie Jean King Cup with wins over France, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.
They will advance to the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Shenzhen in September.
They will face the other six qualifying teams and host country China.
Can Britain win the Billie Jean King Cup?
Great Britain captain Keotavon said: “We’re all just overjoyed. Look, it’s been an incredible week here in Melbourne. The tennis yesterday and today was really great. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the team. I’m so proud of them.”
Keothabong has captained the team since 2016 and believes Great Britain, who reached the semi-finals last year, “were on to something special”.
Asked if they could win the Billie Jean King Cup, the captain said: “That’s always the ultimate goal and I know we have the players and the strength of Great Britain to achieve something special in this competition.”
“But I’ve felt for a while that I needed a little bit of luck for everything to work out.
“Certainly, as we head into the finals, whoever is on my team, we’ll be there. We’re not there to make up the numbers, that’s for sure.”
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