Aussie BJK dream aided by Swiss late night

Alicia Molik's Australian team had already enjoyed their Japanese evening meal and were relaxing in front of the TV, content they had booked their place in the Billie Jean King Cup final some hours earlier.

Across town in the shadow of the Celtic soccer ground, their would-be opponents were left still scrapping late into Saturday evening in the second semi-final - manna from heaven for the early-to-bed Aussies.

The widespread consensus at the Emirates Arena was that Australia would start as underdogs in Sunday's final, whoever emerged as the winner between the 11-times champions from the Czech Republic and a Swiss team spearheaded by Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic.

As it turned out, the Swiss won - but did not finish the job until after 9.30pm, which following warm-downs and press duties meant a late-evening return to their Glasgow hotel.

So, with the final starting at 2pm on Sunday, wasn't their later night a form of equaliser for the Australians, who'd been beaten by the same team in last year's semi-finals?

Molik seemed to bristle at the notion her team were underdogs.

"No, I don't think an equaliser, no. I feel like we can win tomorrow. I don't care what time they finish tonight," she said.

"Players will be in bed early, but they will be definitely watching the matches."

Still, she agreed the three early-starting ties her team had enjoyed this week could only be beneficial.

"Happy, I mean it's six o'clock here and we are about to go to dinner. It's perfect for us. This has been a schedule we have been on since we arrived here. All of our matches were early.

"We have been here longer than any other team, which I believe has paid off. So, you know, we are really prepared."

And no-one has been as prepared as Storm Sanders, not so much the Rockhampton rocket as the Rockhampton revelation.

The Queenslander's played over nine hours of high-octane tennis this week, winning five out of six rubbers, with the only fear being she might be starting to suffer for her efforts when she needed treatment for an unspecified leg problem during her win over Great Britain's Heather Watson.

Still, she came out a couple of hours later and won the decisive doubles with Sam Stosur.

"I'll recover tonight, we'll get some treatment, and just rest. With the final at 2pm tomorrow, I'll have the morning to kind of rest and get ready. Kind of use the high from today to keep going for tomorrow. I feel like, yeah, let's give it everything," said Sanders.

She'll open up against either Jil Teichmann or Viktorija Golubic, who've both shone in singles this week, while a flat Ajla Tomljanovic will have to improve dramatically on her defeat by Britain's Harriet Dart if she's to tame Bencic, who's won all four of her matches this week.

Ominously, when Teichmann met Sanders and Tomljanovic played Bencic last year, the Australian pair won only eight games between them.

"Switzerland always show how good they are. In big events like Billie Jean King Cup and the Olympics, they really step up," said Molik of the team that lost to Russia in last year's final. "Their level is great."

But maybe it's time for her own team to change their recent tennis history. Ever since Evonne Goolagong led the 1974 champions, Australia have reached nine finals - and lost them all. Tenth time lucky, perhaps?