(London) World number one Iga Swiatek and Poland qualified for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Switzerland’s Céline Naef.
The win gave Poland an insurmountable 3-0 lead in this best-of-five matchup.
Swiatek, champion of the French and United States Opens, also won the first match of this clash the day before, in Bienne, Switzerland.
Japan, Australia and Slovakia also qualified for the Finals, which will take place in November in Seville, Spain.
Japan made it 3-0 against Kazakhstan without four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka needing to play a second match.
Nao Hibino defeated Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6 (7). The day before, Osaka had defeated her to help the Japanese take a 2-0 lead.
Slovakia, for its part, qualified thanks to a 6-2, 6-0 victory for 16-year-old Renata Jamrichova against Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec, on an indoor court in Bratislava. The win put Slovakia in front at 3-0.
Australia took the same lead against Mexico in Brisbane. Taylah Preston won 6-1, 6-1 against Marcela Zacarias.
The eight qualifying nations will join defending champions Canada, 2023 finalists Italy, host Spain and the Czech Republic in a 12-country Finals contingent.
Before action began on Saturday, the United Kingdom and France were neck and neck at 1-1, and the Americans had a 2-0 advantage against Belgium. Ukraine and Germany were 2-0 ahead against Romania and Brazil, respectively.