MALAGA, Spain (Reuters) – Poland’s world number two Iga Swiatek beat Paula Badosa 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 to knock out hosts Spain 2-0 and book her country a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals on Friday.
Poland will face Czech Republic on Saturday following a gutsy performance by Swiatek after Magda Linette had won a tight contest 7-6(6) 2-6 6-4 against Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Later on Friday, Britain also reached the last eight by beating Germany 2-0 with wins for Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter and next face defending champions Canada on Sunday.
At three hours and 51 minutes, Linette’s triumph for Poland was nine minutes shy of the longest game ever in the competition and she was forced to come from 3-0 down in the deciding set.
With Poland leading the tie, Swiatek stepped onto court with the chance to send her nation through to their first Billie Jean King Cup quarter-final since 2015.
Swiatek returned to competition earlier in November at the WTA Finals two months after deciding to step aside from the WTA tour due to fatigue following her U.S. Open quarter-final exit.
The 23-year-old, who lost top ranking to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, started well against world number 12 Badosa on Friday by taking the first set and moving 3-0 ahead in the second.
Roared on by the home fans, Badosa managed to recover and took the game to a third set by winning a tight tiebreak but Swiatek came back relentlessly to break Badosa’s serve four times and send Poland through to the last eight.
“I’m happy that we finally won a tie at the BJK Cup Finals. It’s a big step for us,” Swiatek said.
“My match was super intense. At the beginning I felt like it was my best match since the U.S. Open. Later on she pushed me and there was a lot of pressure.”
Britain’s Raducanu made a triumphant return to court after a two-month injury layoff by securing a 6-4 6-4 win over Germany’s Jule Niemeier before world number 24 Boulter wrapped up the tie with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory against Laura Siegemund.
“I think I played some really good tennis today,” former U.S. Open champion Raducanu said. “I haven’t obviously played a match in a long time so these are small sharpness things that come the more matches I play. I’m very happy.”
The quarter-final action on Saturday also sees Japan facing last-year’s runners-up Italy. Australia meet Slovakia, who knocked out the Untied States, on Sunday.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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