Poland 2-0 Romania, Radom (challenging home)
[POL] Lynette b. [ROU] AEC Peugeot 6-1 4-6 6-2
[POL] I. Swiatek b. [ROU] M. Buzarnescu 6-1 and 6-0
Iga Swiatek’s official debut as the world number one was completely in line with his latest release. Another landslide victory for the 20-year-old Polish woman, who in front of her home crowd finished her important day 2-0 for Poland against Romania. Few doubts, perhaps, that the difference between Iga and Mihaela Buzarnescu was enough to make upsetting very difficult, but Swiatek’s performance was such that although he never engaged in high gears, he ended up managing the changes and at the same time controlling the outcome .
Very good with service from the first points, in control of the various exchanges, in confidence even when the Roman could close and find herself hit by a defensive strike, direct or backhand, which overturned the result of the exchange and systematically gave the point to the point. Discount. Pozarnescu’s only win, 5-0 in the first set, came when Swiatek was ahead in return but missed a second ball response with a forehand. On the next point, Romanian found a good corner with a forehand, and Swiatek didn’t hit well with a backhand on the match ball.
Beyond that, and some minor mistakes when he had to close out the first set, for Swiatek it was an almost perfect day also seasoned with a great point that brought him home at 5-0 and 30-0 in the second set when he switched to another defense in attacking with a volley in the squash, Sliding, he nearly turned his back to the net at the moment of impact.
Everything is booming for the hosts, who tomorrow will need just one point to reach the finals thanks to Magda Linate’s success today against the often-contracted and unhappy Irina Camelia Bejo, who lost 6-1 4-6 6-2. The main difference, in the second set, was at the start as Linette’s serve went down and fell under 0-3. She got back to 4-4 but played poorly at 4-5 from 30-0. However, in the third set, he immediately took advantage of the break, and led the match to the port.
Czech Republic 1-1 UK, Prague (red clay outdoors)
[CZE] M. Vondrosova b. [GBR] H. Dart 6-1 6-0
[GBR] E. Raducanu b. [CZE] T. Martincova 7-5 7-5
Small, big, big, huge. You choose the term. The fact that today’s surprise comes from Prague as the UK is associated with the favorite Czech Republic, which does not have big names but a higher quality team of very young girls than Anne Keothavong, who above all pay a huge difference in experience on the clay. Especially Emma Raducano, despite being a Grand Slam champion now, she’s never played a red match before today. And what happens? The player born in 2002 wins a daring match that keeps everything in balance in light of tomorrow’s crucial day.
Marketa Vondrousova ended up “slicing” (athletic) Harriet Dart more than expected, so today’s 2-0 chances were plenty. Instead, Teresa Martinkova stopped capturing any of the many potentially defining moments in the two losing sets with a weak 7-5 of deep regret. Emma didn’t seem too concerned during the tradeoffs, probably because when the ball arrives slow enough and has time to hit it, she’s able to turn especially well with the forehand. It’s tough, yes: The five commas are proof of that. But it was clearly superior in character today. In the first set, she recovered from 5-4 and scored a point for the Czech, who lost three consecutive points and broke 5-6 again. In the second half, Martinkova was up 4-1 and leading twice before finding himself 4-4 and losing a very long period of response to slip back 5-4. He risked throwing everything away already in the tenth game, but the finish was only delayed by a few minutes.
Great Britain is alive, and tomorrow Peter Balla will have to decide whether to restore confidence in Martinkova who will carry a huge weight on her shoulders in the fourth and decisive singles.
Kazakhstan 2-0 Germany, Nur-Sultan (inner red mud)
[KAZ] Y Putintseva b. [GER] A. Kerber 3-6 6-3 6-2
[KAZ] Rybakina b. [GER] to. Sigmund 6-0 6-1
Kazakhstan has never been this close to the FA Cup/Billie Jean King Cup Finals before. The Yaroslava Shvedova girls take a very important step on the first day of the game against Germany by climbing to a possibly unexpected 2-0 goal, but they earn on the field thanks to the usual, infinite character, Yulia Putintseva and the Day of Grace. Elena Rybakina.
Last night, the choice to play on clay seemed like a move, especially given the experience of Angelique Kerber and Laura Siegmund. For the former world number one it is true that red is not a friendly surface but has won for two consecutive years in Stuttgart, while Siegmund is very comfortable on clay and won (she) in Stuttgart to make another final. Instead, the moment both of them had a much greater negative impact. For Kerber there is the whole last professional phase which consists of many difficulties and little satisfaction, for Sigmund there is a very long period of inactivity which ended just a few weeks ago after knee surgery.
Putintseva, who also had a really bad start, from the second set onwards was always ahead in the score and capped it off with loads of adrenaline. Rybakina took off and put a great distance between her and Siegemund on the spot. She wouldn’t be very comfortable on the surface, but a relatively slow ball from her opponent with no particular effect often gave her control. Tomorrow Rybakina will challenge herself to Kerber, and if the challenge continues, she will find Putintseva Siegemund. Kazakhstan will have to try to avoid the crucial doubling: so far the path is the right one.
Holland 0-1 Spain, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (inner red clay)
[SPA] n. Barezas Diaz b. [NED] Verse. Ross 6-2 7-6 (4)
[NED] Patinama Kerkhove vs [SPA] S Sorbes Turmo
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