Billie Jean King Cup - Slovakia edge past United States and Switzerland dominate Germany
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Updated 03/11/2021 at 12:08 GMT
The 2021 Billie Jean King Cup provided plenty of drama on Day 2, with Slovakia's nail-biting win over the United States and Australia's underdog defeat of Belgium among the highlights. Canada also became the first side to be knocked out of the tournament, losing 3-0 to Russia, while Switzerland eased past two-time champions Germany.
Billie Jean king Cup
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Switzerland made an electric start to their 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Finals by beating Germany with 3-0, while Slovakia eked past the United States with a 2-1 win on Day 2 of the tournament.
Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic grabbed singles wins to put the tie out of Germany's reach at the beginning of the evening
Olympic gold medallist Bencic beat world number nine Angelique Kerber in a nail-biting showdown that finished 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
World No.45 Golubic then saved nine break points on her way to a 6-4, 7-5 win over Andrea Petkovic
Golubic then teamed with Jil Teichmann to sweep past Anna-Lena Friedsam and Nastasja Schunk, winning 6-1, 6-2 to make it 3-0 to the Swiss.
Switzerland are aiming for their first Billie Jean King Cup title, but two-time champions Germany have had their hopes almost extinguished after two defeats in two days in Group D.
Slovakia's evening was less comfortable against the United States in Group C.
Viktoria Kuzmova defeated Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-4 to put her side ahead, but American Danielle Collins drew the United States level as she eased past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-2.
The tie would be decided in the doubles with Slovakia's Kuzmova and Tereza Mihalikova taking on Caroline Dolehide and CoCo Vandeweghe.
As the Americans forced a tie-break, the Slovakians took a 8-4 lead, only to be pegged back to 8-8 by the stubborn Americans.
Both sides failed to take opportunity of a tie point before the Slovakians took the tie-break to win 6-2, 6-7(5), [12-10].
In Group A, Australia - missing world number one Ashleigh Bartey and the late loss of Ajla Tomljanovic through illness - pulled off a huge upset against Belgium.
Daria Gavrilova had played just two tournaments in 2021 but stunned Greet Minnen 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. And later on world number 131 Storm Sanders - who had never beaten a player in the top 20 - pulled off the biggest victory of her career by defeating world number 18 Elise Mertens 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-0.
Elsewhere, Canada became the first nation to be knocked out of the competition, losing 3-0 to an utterly dominant Russia in Group A.
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