LONDON, Apr 13:
No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek clinched a berth for Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals by defeating Switzerland’s Celine Naef 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to take an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five-match qualifying round.
Swiatek – who has claimed Grand Slam titles at the French Open and one at the US Open – also won her opening singles match on an indoor hard court at Biel, Switzerland, on Friday.
Japan, Australia and Slovakia were among the countries that advanced Saturday to the Finals, which will be held in Seville, Spain, in November.
Japan went ahead 3-0 over Kazakhstan without needing four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to play a second match on an indoor hard court in Tokyo. That’s because Nao Hibino beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7) on Saturday after Osaka’s win against Putintseva on Friday helped the hosts go up 2-0.
Slovakia moved into the Finals when 16-year-old Renata Jamrichova defeated Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-0 on an indoor hard court in Bratislava to give the hosts a 3-0 edge over visiting Slovenia.
Australia went up 3-0 over Mexico on an outdoor hard court in Brisbane thanks to Taylah Preston’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marcela Zacarias.
The eight winners in qualifying will join defending champion Canada, 2023 runner-up Italy, host Spain and wild-card selection Czech Republic in the 12-country Finals field.
Heading into Saturday, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and Britain were tied 1-1 with France, the United States led Belgium 2-0, Ukraine led Romania 2-0, and Germany was ahead of Brazil 2-0. (AP)
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