Tennis
Czech tennis players beat USA in BJK Cup, Swiss await them in semifinals
Friday’s clash between the Czech Republic and the USA was a direct battle to advance from Group D at the final Billie Jean King Cup tournament. It was already clear after the singles matches, in which Thursday’s successful doubles players from the previous duel with Poland, namely Vondrousova and Siniakova, were successful. On Saturday afternoon, the team of captain Petr Palá will challenge the Swiss team in the semi-final battle.
Friday’s clash between the Czech Republic and the USA was a direct battle to advance from Group D at the final Billie Jean King Cup tournament. It was already clear after the singles matches, in which Thursday’s successful doubles players from the previous duel with Poland, namely Vondrousova and Siniakova, were successful. On Saturday afternoon, the team of captain Petr Palá will challenge the Swiss team in the semi-final battle.
The Central Europeans and North Americans were expected to put up an even fight at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. However, both singles matches were eventually decided after just two sets.
99. wTA ranked player Markéta Vondroušová was not the favourite against Danielle Collins. Nevertheless, it was over after an hour and a quarter when the native of Sokolov defeated the tennis player, who is ranked 14th in the world singles rankings, twice 6:3.
The next match between Katerina Siniakova and Cori Gauff was a match of two different sets. The Czech won the first one after a tiebreak, which ended 7:1. In the second set, she dealt with the world number seven, a player ranked forty places higher, in a more unambiguous way. Thanks to two break points, she won 6:1.
The doubles match was decided in the form of Karolina Muchová, Karolina Pliskova – Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend. This time it was more successful for the American team, who won twice 6::3.
The Czech Republic’s opponent in Saturday’s semi-final will be Switzerland, the loser of last year’s final in Prague’s O2 Arena. Pál’s charges will play the final match at 17:00. Live coverage will be broadcast by CT Sport.
The other two groups of the event, officially called Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals 2022, are Australia and also the home country Great Britain, which is missing its top-ranked player Emma Raducanu.
It is the players from the opposite country and the Brits who will cater for the second semi-final, which will precede the Czech-Swiss clash from 11am. The final is scheduled for Sunday. Last year’s triumph in Prague was enjoyed by Russia, which was excluded from this year’s edition due to the war invasion of Ukraine.
BJK Cup 2022 final tournament – final group standings
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Source:: CT Sport, Billie Jean King Cup, WTA
