Iga Swiatek continues hot streak for Poland in Billie Jean King Cup

Billie Jean King Cup
Iga Swiatek celebrates

World No 1 Iga Swiatek claimed her 19th straight match win on Saturday and in doing so led Poland into the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup.

Swiatek handed a double bagle to Romania’s Andreea Prisacariu to give Poland an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the tie.

The top-ranked woman was clinical in her demolition of Prisacariu, sporting a perfect break point conversion rate.

In other action, Great Britain could not overcome the Czech Republic in Prague despite a valiant effort.

The Czech Republic have won six of the last ten Billie Jean King Cups, a testament to the great depth of talent they have brought through in the 21st Century.

Kazakhstan would also clinched a spot in November’s finals when Elena Rybakina defeated Germany’s Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a clash between two Top 20 players.

Kerber broke the Kazakh No 1 at love for a 5-3 lead in the third set, but Rybakina rebounded superbly, taking the next four games in a row to give her country the match win and an unbeatable 3-0 lead for the weekend.

“The match was very difficult,” Rybakina said after her match, as reported by the Billie Jean King Cup website. “But I was tuned in. I understood that, of course, we would both fight to the last point.”

Spain also booked their passage into the November finals.

Sara Sorribes Tormo got the better of Arantxa Rus 6-0, 6-4, giving the Spaniards a 3-0 advantage over the Netherlands.

The USA needed to hold off a stunning Ukraine comeback to win 3-2 in their tie.

Canada wrapped up a quick 3-0 win over Latvia when Leylah Fernandez bested Daniela Vismane 6-2, 6-1 in exactly an hour.

Four-time champions Italy also qualified. Camila Giorgi gave her squad a 3-0 lead over three-time winners France with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Harmony Tan.

Iga Swiatek

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