Samantha Stosur has secured Australia's elevation to the Fed Cup World Group with a 6-4 6-1 win over Germany's Andrea Petkovic in Stuttgart.
Samantha Stosur has hauled Australia back into the Fed Cup top-flight with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Germany's Andrea Petkovic in Stuttgart.
Stosur backed up her opening day straight-sets win over world No.14 Angelique Kerber to dismiss the returning Petkovic in one hour and 14 minutes on clay at the Porsche Arena.
The win handed Australia an unbeatable 3-0 advantage in the tie and secured the nation a berth in the elite eight-nation World Group next year.
Fed Cup captain David Taylor said Australia should in the top tier of the competition with players of the calibre of Stosur and Jarmila Gajdosova at their disposal.
"We have had a good Fed Cup team the past few years but we have not really had all our players in form at the same time," Taylor said.
"With the players we have got, I think Australia belongs in the World Group."
Stosur entered the weekend with a 1-5 record this year against top-20 players following a mixed start to 2012.
However the combination of the European spring and red dirt under her feet again proved agreeable as the 2010 French Open finalist produced two impressive wins before Roland Garros next month.
Following Gajdosova's shock win over Julia Goerges on the opening day, the Germans decided to replace Goerges with world No.11 Petkovic on Sunday.
It was a gamble for the Europeans considering that Petkovic had not played a match for three months because of back stress fractures - and the home girl was not able to cope with Stosur's game in front of a parochial German crowd.
Australia were relegated to the second tier of the Fed Cup last year following a surprise home loss to the Ukraine.
Stosur, a long-time servant for the national team with a 30-9 career record, opted to skip that tie to concentrate on her preparations for last year's French Open.
She had looked in great touch in Paris in 2011 before an inexplicable third-round exit at the hands of Gisela Dulko.
This time the tie fit in perfectly with Stosur's program - she had intended to be in Stuttgart anyway for next week's WTA event.
Following Stuttgart, Stosur will fine-tune her game for Roland Garros at key lead-up tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
The French Open starts on May 27.
Stosur was surprised at the ease of Australia's win on German soil against a team boasting three players in the world's top 16.
"That was a bit unexpected," she said.
"I always thought we could win. For sure, we thought we could win, but that was above expectations."
She said it was an ideal way to start the claycourt season in Europe.
"I am really looking forward to having another good year on the clay," said Australia's world No.5.
