(Radom) Poland reached the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time on Saturday after No. 1 Iga Swiatek defeated Romania’s Andreea Prisacariu, 6-0, 6-0.
Posted at 9:25 a.m.
Swiatek needed just 52 minutes to extend her singles winning streak to 19, in her second match since occupying the pinnacle of women’s tennis.
“It took us a few years, step by step, to progress and finally qualify,” Swiatek, 20, said in an interview on the pitch. I hope that in the final we will show even more progress. I’m really proud of us. »
Swiatek’s victory gave Poland a 3-0 lead in the November final. The 2020 Roland-Garros champion had beaten Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1 and 6-0 on Friday.
Italy and Kazakhstan also moved up the table. Camila Giorgi beat France’s Harmony Tan 6-2, 6-0, giving the Italians their third consecutive win. Elena Rybakina gave Kazakhstan a 3-0 lead against Germany by beating Angelique Kerber, 4-6, 6-3 and 7-5.
In Prague, Marketa Vondrousova beat Queen of New York Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-1 to give the Czech Republic a 2-1 advantage over Great Britain.
Raducanu, slowed by a blister on her foot, beat Tereza Martincova on Friday. However, she struggled against Vondrousova on a cold morning on clay.
Once a finalist at the French Open, Vondrousova needed just 62 minutes to beat her 19-year-old rival. Raducanu took a medical time out after the first set.
The Czechs have won the Cup six times since 2011. They are without their three highest-ranked singles players – No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova, No. 7 Karolina Pliskova and No. 28 Petra Kvitova – as well as the player highest ranked doubles, Katerina Siniakova.