Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova comfortably won their opening matches to help Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic respectively take 2-0 leads in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers on Friday.
Playing at home against a Polish team missing the injured world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, Kazakhstan stamped their authority over Poland on clay.
First, Yulia Putintseva stunned Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3 before Wimbledon champion Rybakina doubled their advantage.
Photo: Reuters
Rybakina fired nine aces and won three out of six break points in her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Weronika Falkowska to put Kazakhstan in full control ahead of the final day’s action.
The best-of-five qualifiers featured two singles matches on Friday and two reverse singles yesterday, plus a doubles rubber.
“Magda is a rather difficult player, so it’ll be a difficult match,” Rybakina said, looking ahead to her clash with Linette.
“I hope today’s match will allow me to feel more confident tomorrow. I’ll prepare and hope that I’ll be able to win,” she said.
France took a 2-0 lead over hosts Britain as world No. 5 Caroline Garcia first battled to a 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) win over Katie Boulter in a marathon match lasting 3 hours, 26 minutes.
“Three tiebreaks just says how tight the match was. Katie played really well, I just had to fight and stay in the match,” WTA Finals winner Garcia said.
Her compatriot, Alize Cornet, then beat Harriet Dart 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3) to extend France’s lead.
Czech Republic’s former Roland Garros runner-up Marketa Vondrousova beat Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 in the Turkish city of Antalya where the teams are playing due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, then eased past Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska 6-4, 6-3.
The 27-year-old, who said she has been supporting the people of Ukraine during the conflict, also pledged her earnings from the qualifiers to the people in Turkey affected by a devastating earthquake in February.
Spain led Mexico 2-0 after Sara Sorribes Tormo thrashed Fernanda Contreras Gomez 6-0, 6-0 before Nuria Parrizas Diaz beat Renata Zarazua 6-4, 6-3.
The US, who have won more titles than any other nation in the competition with 18, took a 2-0 lead over Austria after teenage sensation Coco Gauff beat Julia Grabher 6-1, 6-3 and Jessica Pegula secured a 6-0, 7-5 win over Sinja Kraus.
Canada and Belgium were tied at 1-1 as former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-0, 6-3 before Ysaline Bonaventure recovered from a shaky start to beat Rebecca Marino 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours, 21 minutes.
In the other contests, Italy led Slovakia 2-0, Germany and Brazil were tied at 1-1 and Romania had a 2-0 lead over Slovenia.
The nine winning countries from the qualifiers are to join defending champions Switzerland and last year’s runners-up Australia at this year’s finals, which are to take place from Nov. 7 to 12.
The 12th nation competing at the finals is to be announced once a host has been confirmed.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
RSS