Swiatek powers Poland into Finals

WARSAW • Poland's world No. 1 tennis star Iga Swiatek handed Romania's Andreea Prisacariu a double bagel en route to victory in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier yesterday, securing a 4-0 win in the tie and a spot in November's Finals for the first time.

Swiatek, who put her country up 2-0 on Friday's opening session by thrashing Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-0 for an 18th straight win, continued to stamp her authority on the tie as the 20-year-old broke Prisacariu six times in Radom, Poland.

"I'm really proud. I was really working hard for that. Even though I didn't play last year, I feel it's been a long journey and it took us a few years to progress step by step and qualify for the Finals," Swiatek said after her 6-0, 6-0 win.

"It just shows what a strong team we are. Hopefully, in the Finals we're going to show even more progress and we're going to succeed."

Joining Poland in the Finals are Kazakhstan, who beat visitors Germany 3-1 with Elena Rybakina coming from a set down to get past three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Nur-Sultan.

Britain's hopes were dashed after they lost 3-2 to the Czech Republic.

Teenager Emma Raducanu, who won on her debut in the event on Friday, fell to a 6-1, 6-1 defeat by 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova in Prague after struggling with blisters on her right foot.

Vondrousova then teamed up with Karolina Muchova to beat British pair Harriet Dart and Katie Swan 6-1, 7-5 to seal their spot in the Finals.

Italy beat France 3-1, Spain downed the Netherlands 4-0, while Belgium received a walkover with opponents Belarus suspended from international team competitions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus is a key staging area for the invasion, which Russia calls a "special operation".

REUTERS