Iga Swiatek beat Swiss teenager Celine Naef 6-4 6-3 in the Qualifiers in Biel to book Poland a spot in the Billie Jean King Finals, which will be held in Seville next November. Poland took an insurmountable 3-0 win over Switzerland in the best-of-five qualifying round.
Naef went up an early break in the third game of the first set to take a 2-1 lead. Swiatek reeled off six consecutive games to build up a 6-4 4-0 lead, but Naef pulled back on serve at 3-4, but Swiatek reeled off the final two games to win the win the second set 6-3 after 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Swiatek sealed her seventh consecutive match win at the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I am super happy and proud of everybody. It’s been a really fun week, so I am happy that this week so I am happy that this time I could lead my team to be in the finals. Hopefully we are going to finish it in November, but I am super proud of what we achieved for these two days”, said Swiatek.
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter earned Great Britain a 3-1 win over France.
Diane Perry won 12 consecutive games from 0-2 down to beat Katie Boulter 6-2 6-0 in the first match on Friday.
Emma Raducanu, US Open champion in 2021, came back from a set and a break down to beat Caroline Garcia 3-6 6-3 6-2 levelling the tie to 1-1.
Both players traded breaks in the first set before Garcia broke again in the eighth game to win the first set 6-3.
Garcia went up a break in the first game of the second set, but Raducanu reeled off six of the next seven games to win the second set 6-3. Raducanu broke twice in the third and fifth games and closed out the match with a smash at the net.
During the second day Katie Boulter beat Clara Burel 7-5 6-0 to win the first tour-level clay-court match of her career, earning Great Britain a 2-1 lead.
Raducanu came back from one set down to beat Diana Parry 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-1) securing Great Britain a spot in the final with an unassailable 3-1 win.
Parry earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Raducanu broke back in the third game and held serve in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Parry broke for the second time in the 10th game to close out the first set 6-4. Parry saved five of the six break points she faced, while Raducanu did not either of the two chances she faced.
Raducanu went up an early break in the first game of the second set. The 2021 US Open champion withstood a five-deuce second game and saved a break point. The British player earned two breaks in the fifth and seventh games to win the second set 6-1.
Raducanu won the last 14 points of the second set.
Parry earned an early break in the first game of the third set. Raducanu reeled off four consecutive games to take a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve. She served for the match at 5-4.
Raducanu held two match points. Parry saved the first match point with a passing shot winner. Raducanu missed her second chance with a forehand error, before Parry broke back after a long backhand from Raducanu in the ninth game for 4-5.
Raducanu fended off two break points to hold serve for 6-5. The British player earned two mini-breaks and forced an error with her forehand on her third match point to win the wrap up the tie-break 7-1 after 2 hours and 52 minutes.
“To be able to play two matches like that back to back, it’s a testament to what I have been doing. I am just glad it was able to show”, said Raducanu.
British captain Anne Kheotavong after Great Britain’s win over France.
“I think it’s going to take a lot of work to wipe this smile off my smile. What a win ! The atmosphere was just absolutely rocking. Katie and Emma came out to play. They put out some fantastic performances against tough opposition. I am just chuffed for the team, we came out and we knew it was going to be difficult to be the underdogs, but we came, we performed and we are all leaving with a big smile on our face”, said Anne Kheotavong.
Japan, Australia and Slovakia also secured their spot for the Billie Jean King Cup Final.
Japan went ahead Kazakhstan 3-0 over Kazakhstan. The Japanese team did not need Naomi Osaka to play a second match on an indoor hard court in Tokyo. Osaka beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-2 7-6 (7-5). Nao Hibino beat Putintseva 6-4 3-6 7-6 (9-7) on Saturday. Putintseva held four consecutive match points in the tie-break of the third set. Hibino saved them to win the tie-break 9-7 to seal a 3-0 lead for Japan. Hibino won her second win at this year’s edition of the Bille Jean King Cup Qualifiers after beating Anna Danilina 6-1 6-0 on Friday.
Australia went up 3-0 over Mexico to book their spot in the Finals on an outdoor court in Brisbane. Eighteen-year-old Taylah Preston secured the decisive point with a 6-1 6-1 win over Mexico’s Marcela Zacarias.
Preston won 73% of Zacarias’ second serve points and broke six times.
Slovakia, Billie Jean King Cup champions in 2022, qualified for the Finals when 16-year-old Renata Jamrichova, Australian Open Junior champion in 2024, beat Veronika Erjavic 6-2 6-0 in 64 minutes, on an indoor court in Bratislava to earn a 3-0 win over Slovenia.
