Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina moved Kazakhstan closer to a place in the Billie Jean King Cup finals later this year after clinching a key victory for her nation.
The world No.10 defeated Australia’s Kim Birrell 6-3, 7-6 (4) in Brisbane during a roller-coaster encounter. Rybakina found herself having to come back from the brink in both sets. She was down 1-3 in the opening set and 1-5 in the second.
“Such a difficult match and super happy to bring the win for the team, and Yulia did a great job in her match,” the AFP News Agency quoted Rybakina as saying after her win.
“I played pretty well in the first set, but it was difficult and I was just trying to fight in the second set when I was down.”
Rybakina’s win gave her country an unassailable 2-0 lead over Australia. In the first match of the tie, Yulia Putintseva stormed to a 6-2, 6-1, win over Maya Joint, who is currently ranked more than 50 places lower than her in the WTA standings.
“It was definitely a good game for me and I love playing in Brisbane. I think today was just one of those days when everything was working,” said Putintseva.
There was some consolation for Australia in the doubles, which they won in straight sets. Storm Hunter and Ellena Perez beat Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva 6-3, 6-4.
Kazakhstan can secure their place in the BJK Cup finals on Friday if they beat Colombia. Qualification for this year’s finals features six groups of three countries facing each other this week with the winner of each group progressing.
China has already qualified due to being the host nation and Italy has done so by winning the title last year.
2025 Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round groups
- A- Canada, Romania and Japan
- B – Czech Republic, Spain and Brazil
- C – Slovakia, United States and Denmark
- D- Kazakhstan, Colombia and Australia
- E – Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine
- F – Great Britain, Germany and Netherlands
Note: Group A is hosted in Tokyo (Japan), Group B in Ostrava (Czechia), Group C in Bratislava (Slovakia), Group D in Brisbane (Australia), Group E in Radom (Poland), and Group F in The Hague (Netherlands).
