Emma Raducanu Leads Britain Past France For A Spot In The Billie Jean King Cup Finals

LONDON: Emma Raducanu clinched Britain’s berth within the Billie Jean King Cup Finals by taking the final six factors of a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1) victory towards Diane Parry of France on Saturday for an insurmountable 3-1 lead within the best-of-five-match qualifying spherical.

Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion who missed most of final season due to accidents, additionally put collectively a comeback from a set down in her opening singles match Friday towards Caroline Garcia on an indoor clay courtroom in Le Portel, France.

This was a rematch from final yr in qualifying, when France gained; this time, the international locations have been tied 1-all after Friday. Katie Boulter beat Clara Burel 7-5, 6-0 to place Britain forward 2-1 on Saturday, earlier than Raducanu got here by in a contest that lasted practically 3 hours. She led Parry 5-2 within the third set, held two match factors whereas serving for the win at 5-3 however wanted the tiebreaker to shut issues out.

Raducanu had surgical procedure on every wrist and one ankle in 2023. When Saturday’s win ended, she dropped her racket on the courtroom, leaned over to position her arms on her knees, then stood with a large smile.

“To be able to put two matches like that back to back — three sets and on clay, against really tough opponents — it’s just a testament to the work we’ve been doing,” mentioned Raducanu, who has been as excessive as No. 10 within the WTA rankings and is No. 302 this week, greater than 250 locations under each Garcia (No. 23) and Parry (No. 49). “And I knew it would pay off, eventually. So I’m very pleased that, this weekend, it was able to show.”

Britain has by no means gained the worldwide workforce competitors for girls.

Poland — led by No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek — Japan, Australia and Slovakia have been among the many different international locations that superior to the Finals, which shall be held in Seville, Spain, in November. The eight nations that win in qualifying be a part of defending champion Canada, 2023 runner-up Italy, host Spain and wild-card choice Czech Republic within the 12-team Finals subject.

Heading into Saturday, the United States led Belgium 2-0, Ukraine led Romania 2-0 and Germany was forward of Brazil 2-0.

Swiatek clinched a berth for Poland by defeating Switzerland’s Celine Naef 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday for a 3-0 lead. Swiatek — who has claimed Grand Slam titles on the French Open and one on the U.S. Open — additionally gained her opening singles match on an indoor exhausting courtroom at Biel, Switzerland.

Japan went forward 3-0 towards Kazakhstan while not having four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to play a second match on an indoor exhausting courtroom in Tokyo. That’s as a result of Nao Hibino beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7) on Saturday, after Osaka’s win towards Putintseva on Friday helped the hosts go up 2-0.

Slovakia moved into the Finals when 16-year-old Renata Jamrichova defeated Veronika Erjavec 6-2, 6-0 on an indoor exhausting courtroom in Bratislava to offer the hosts a 3-0 edge over visiting Slovenia.

Australia went up 3-0 over Mexico on an outside exhausting courtroom in Brisbane because of Taylah Preston’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marcela Zacarias.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)