And yet the collective goal was achieved regardless. 

Sam Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, was endorsed by Australian captain Alicia Molik, who had tasted her own Fed Cup success in Wollongong, against the Netherlands in 2002. 

Ranked No.58, Stosur was picked ahead of the charismatic No.24 Daria Gavrilova, but folded when 4-1 up in the first set against Dutch No.210 Lesley Kerkhove, only to fall 7-5, 7-6. Suddenly, the unthinkable, a Netherlands victory in our own backyard, with three Aussie players inside the top 50, was possible.

But Molik acted swiftly, playing her trump card and bringing Gavrilova into the reverse singles action. 

Gavrilova had to fight harder than she may have liked, but prevailed regardless, 6-3, 6-2, in 80 minutes.

It sealed a triumph, 4-1 after Gavrilova backed up in the doubles with teenager Destinee Aiava to beat Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs 6-3, 6-2.

And yet, the history pages will fail to reflect the tension midway through Saturday’s play, when Kerkhove played the match of her career to upstage Stosur. Molik wasted little time in declaring Australia can win the Fed Cup next year, after spending multiple media interviews defending the decision to pick Stosur ahead of Gavrilova for the opening match. 

It mattered little in the end, though at 34, Stosur’s hopes of returning to the lofty heights on the tour took a major psychological blow all the time.

Instead, Barty showed why she could well be the next Australian tennis superstar, perhaps sneaking under the guard of the temperamental Nick Kyrgios, who surely has all the talent in the world to win a grand slam event.

Barty, who has made the doubles final at all four majors without winning a title since 2013, steadied the Australian ship with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Dutch debutant Quirine Lemoine on Saturday.

She backed it up by beating the giant killer Kerkhove 6-4, 6-2, putting the Aussies on the brink of glory and a place at tennis’s top table. 

Barty is being lauded as the next Australian superstar, for her versatility and tactical nous, after a breakout 2017 season. And then Gavrilova came with the knockout punch.

Molik had declared Stosur would return in the doubles, but instead it was handed to Gavrilova and Aiava to complete the mission.

Can Barty be Australia’s next top 10, perhaps No.1, in the wildly fluctuating women’s tennis scene?

Can the veteran Stosur bounce back, with the French Open beckoning, where she finished runner-up in 2010?

Can Australia deliver on their promise, having laid the Fed Cup platform in Wollongong? 

We wait. And hope.