Japan, Australia and Slovakia clinched spots in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Saturday, moving one step closer to the prestigious women’s tennis team title.
This weekend’s eight Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers ties will be settled on Saturday, with the winners advancing to November’s Finals in Seville, Spain. Here is a running breakdown of the final day of the Qualifiers:
Japan def. Kazakhstan 3-1
Nao Hibino pulled off a stunning win to book Japan’s spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, squeaking past Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Read more: Looking back on Day 1 of the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers
Putintseva held four consecutive match points at 6-2 in the final-set tiebreak, but Hibino erased them all before battling to victory and sealing an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Hibino and Naomi Osaka (playing her first Billie Jean King Cup tie since 2020) had posted straight-sets wins on Friday.
Australia def. Mexico 4-0
At home in Brisbane, the Aussies clinched victory over Mexico when Taylah Preston defeated Marcela Zacarias 6-1, 6-1 in just 66 minutes. Preston won 73 percent of Zacarias’ second-service points, which led to six service breaks for the 18-year-old Australian.
Australia has won the Billie Jean King Cup seven times, but none since 1974. They came close to breaking that duck two years ago, when they finished runner-up to Switzerland at the 2022 Finals.
Slovakia def. Slovenia 3-0
Slovakia, the 2002 Billie Jean King Cup champions, reached the Finals with a 3-0 sweep of Slovenia. The clinching point was converted by 16-year-old Renata Jamrichova, who defeated Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-0.
Jamrichova, who won this year’s Junior Australian Open singles title, needed just 64 minutes to beat Erjavec on Saturday. All three of Slovakia’s singles matches were won by different players this weekend, with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Viktoria Hruncakova triumphing on Friday.
More to come…