On her return to the Billie Jean King Cup squad, Arina Rodionova has attempted to move on from her brutal criticism of Tennis Australia (TA).
Rodionova was controversially overlooked for a wildcard spot at January’s Australian Open despite being the country’s top-ranked women’s player.
Rodionova claimed she was “not liked”, saying TA would have been “pleased” she exited at the qualifying stage of her home grand slam.
But ahead of Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup tie against Mexico in Brisbane this weekend, the 34-year-old tried to downplay her comments from three months ago.
“It’s two very different things,” Rodionova said on Tuesday of representing Australia and her criticism of TA.
“At the end, I didn’t qualify [for the Australian Open] like I probably should have and I didn’t. So that’s on me.
“If I want to give myself the opportunity to play on big courts, then I should win more often. So I’ll try to do that.”
Currently ranked 103rd in the world, Rodionova has been overtaken by fellow Russian-born Aussie Daria Saville, currently at 94 in the WTA rankings.
Rodionova pushed back when quizzed on new Australia captain Sam Stosur’s involvement with TA.
“Sam was always in my corner; it was not really Sam’s decision. I haven’t really had any conversations with anyone about that,” she said of her former national teammate.
“In the Australian Open, I’m playing for myself. Here I’m representing the country, so I don’t see any correlation between those two events.
“Whatever happened in January, it’s happened in January.
“I’m really happy to be part of the team again after a few years.”
Australia has not played a home Billie Jean King Cup tie since 2019 when the competition was still known as the Federation Cup.
That year, Stosur — who in December 2023 was appointed to succeed Alicia Molik as Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain — joined Ash Barty to lead the nation to its first final in 26 years.
Doubles ace Ellen Perez and teenage talent Taylah Preston have also been included for the April 12-13 tie at Pat Rafter Arena.
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AAP