Former World No.4 Samantha Stosur has been appointed Australia's team captain for the Billie Jean King Cup. The 2011 US Open champion retired from the Hologic WTA Tour after making her final appearance at the Australian Open earlier this year. 

Stosur will take over the captaincy from Alicia Molik, who led Australia to the finals in 2019 and 2022. After holding the captaincy for the last 10 years, Molik has taken on the role of tournament director at the Adelaide International. 

"Alicia’s done an amazing job in this role, with her leadership with the players," Stosur told tennis.com.au. "Everyone always wants to be part of the team; there’s a great team culture. The two finals that we made … everyone’s very, very proud of that and hopefully one day we can go that one step further.

“No doubt I’ll probably call Alicia a number of times for a bit of advice here and there. But I’d love to just try and keep the foundations that she’s been able to build."

Stosur made her Billie Jean King Cup debut when she was 19 and finished with the most singles wins for Australia (29). A former doubles No.1, Stosur was also victorious in 10 of her 11 doubles appearances. 

"I’ve got years of playing experience and one thing that I know is how the girls feel when you walk out on the court to play for Australia. I know that feeling of doing it for the first time,” Stosur said.

"You can’t really explain until you’re in that situation to know what it’s going to feel like going on a court to play in Billie Jean King Cup, compared to a normal tournament – even the first time playing the Australian Open. It really, truly is a different experience."

Stosur will be at the helm in 2024 when Australia takes on Mexico for a spot in the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.