Slovakia have qualified for the title match at the Billie Jean King Cup Final in Malaga. The trophy match is against Italy on Wednesday, November 20. The Slovaks reached the final match of the team tournament, after a 2-1 victory over Great Britain. Yesterday, the Italian team, led by Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, dealt with the Polish team.
In singles, the two rivals exchanged one victory each, and everything had to be decided in the doubles match, where Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova easily defeated their opponents Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson with 6:2, 6:2.
Team Great Britain took a 1-0 lead in the first singles match when Emma Raducanu defeated Viktoria Hruncakova by 2-0 (6:4, 6:4). In both sets, Emma Raducanu made one more break than her opponent and took the match in one hour and 37 minutes.
Emma Raducanu was not at her best in a nervy encounter against Viktoria Hruncakova, who is world’s No 238, but again she was able to fight back when it mattered. After saving three break points in her first service game, Emma Raducanu led 5:1, but then went a bit passive and allowed the Slovakian to break back into the set after winning three games in a row. The 2021 US Open champion. served for the second set, which had a similar scenario. Emma Raducanu established a commanding lead, hesitated but eventually found a way out.
Great Britain’s hopes of reaching a first final in the team tournament since 1981. however, they were scorched already in the second match, when Rebecca Sramkova equalized for Slovakia. She defeated Katie Boulter in three sets 2-1 (2:6, 6:4, 6:4) and it was already clear that the doubles match would be decisive.
In the doubles match, Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova got off to a super-aggressive start and when they broke the serves of Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson, they built up a 4:0 lead. From that moment it was clear that they would win the first set. In the fourth game of the second set, the British had three break points on Tereza Mihalikova’s serve, but failed to convert any of them. At 2:4, Olivia Nicholls failed again on her serve and the Slovaks did not miss the chance to qualify for the final. They converted the second match point when Tereza Mihalikova served, which also meant the end of the match.
