Australia is back in the elite world group of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas following convincing wins by Ashleigh Barty and Daria Gavrilova against the Netherlands in the World Group Play-off in Wollongong today.

Barty extended her impressive Fed Cup form with a convincing 6-4 6-2 win over Lesley Kerkhove and Gavrilova sealed the deal, clinching the tie for Australia with a 6-3 6-2 win over Quirine Lemoine.

World No.18 Ashleigh Barty has been named National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador in a move to attract more Indigenous youth to tennis.

The appointment comes following a break-out year in 2017, where Barty was awarded the Female Sportsperson of the Year in the National Dreamtime Awards, as well as the highest honour in Australian tennis the Newcombe Medal.

J.C. Aragone battled two opponents in the final of the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas. The 22-year-old pro circuit rookie and University of Virginia graduate beat former NCAA singles champion and hometown hero Marcos Giron, 6-2, 6-4, to win his first professional title, a USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 Pro Futures event that concluded on Sunday at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.

Aragone may be from Southern California, but Yorba Linda in Orange County felt a lot farther than 70 miles away, as Grion’s high school tennis coach joined in with about 150 other enthusiastic supporters and cheered his every move.

Marcos Giron admitted to looking up and running through the list of names displayed on the center court banner along the baseline of past winners of the USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas, and spotting his name as a winner in 2014.

The No. 4-seeded Giron of nearby Thousand Oaks, said he didn’t see any repeat winners, and was reminded of the fact during his post-match on-court interview with tournament director Jeff Richards that on Sunday he could become the first two-time winner of the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 Pro Futures event taking place at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.

More than 14 years after he first became No. 1, Switzerland’s Roger Federer today returned to the top of the ATP Rankings for a historic fourth stint at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis. Federer, who began his 302nd week at No. 1 on 29 October 2012, breaks a number of ATP Rankings records by replacing his great rival, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, in top spot.

Just 13 months ago, Federer returned from a knee injury at No. 17 in the ATP Rankings and has since compiled a 64-5 match record — including nine titles from 10 finals — in that period. Today, he now holds records for the longest period between stints at No. 1, as the oldest player to attain top spot and for the longest duration between first and last days at the summit of men’s professional tennis.

Canada needed a perfect day on Sunday after losing the first two singles matches of their Fed Cup World Group II first round tie against Romania in Cluj-Napoca. But, Irina-Camelia Begu, the home team’s no. 1 player this weekend, defeated Katherine Sebov (Toronto) 6-2. 6-4 to give her country the victory.

Canadian captain Sylvain Bruneau decided make a change for the third singles matches, opting for Sebov over Carol Zhao (Richmond Hill) against Begu who ultimately defeated the Canadian in one hour, 25 minutes. The Romanian, ranked no. 37 in the world, earned her first break early in the match to set the tone. Despite a push from Sebov in the second set to 3-3, Begu was dominant throughout en route to earning her second point for her team in the tie after defeating Andreescu on Saturday. Romania advances to the World Group I play-offs in April.