Great Britain has advanced to the semi-finals of the Billie Jean Cup women’s team tennis tournament in Glasgow.
The women’s tennis team of Great Britain recorded their first success in the competition over the favorites Spain with 3-0 and surprisingly finished in first place in Group C with the best additional performance.
The Iberians needed one win in the three matches to guarantee first place, but they failed to achieve it and are eliminated. Kazakhstan also recorded a win and a loss, but remained in the last third place.
Heather Watson put the British women ahead with a convincing victory of 2-0 (6:0, 6:2) win over Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, then Harriet Dart sensationally defeated WTA No 13 Paula Badosa by 2-0 (6:3, 6:4). That’s how it came to the key doubles match, in which Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls defeated Aliona Bolsova and Rebeka Masarova by 2-0 (7:6, 6:2) and qualified Great Britain to the semis.
Seven-time tournament champions Australia secured top position in Group B with a second 3-0 win over Belgium. Storm Sanders won against Alison Van Uytvanck by 2-0 (6:2, 6:2), and Ajla Tomljanovic was leading by 3:0 in the third set against Elise Mertens when the Belgian pulled out with an injury.
Belgium finished last without a win and Slovenia finished second in the group with a win and a loss.
In Group D, the Czech Republic won its first match against Poland with 2-1. Karolína Muchova gave the Czechs the lead after 2-0 (6:2, 6:2) over Magdalena Frech, but Magda Linette equalized after 2-0 (6:1, 6:4) victory over Karolina Pliskova. Thus, the winner had to be decided by the doubles match, in which Katerina Siniakova and Marketa Vondrousova prevailed over Magda Linette and Katarzyna Kawa with 2-0 (6:2, 6:3). Thus, in the key match for the first position in the group, the Czech Republic will meet the USA in a repeat of the final of the tournament from 2018, when the Czechs triumphed with 3-0.
