(Reuters) – Poland’s world number one Iga Swiatek handed Romania’s Andreea Prisacariu a double bagel en route to victory in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier on Saturday, securing a 3-0 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 day 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 victory.
“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 3-0 with Elena Rybakina coming from a set down to get past three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 4-6 6-3 7-5 in Nur-Sultan.
Britain’s hopes suffered a blow as teenager Emma Raducanu, who won on her debut in the event on Friday, fell to a 6-1 6-1 defeat against 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova in Prague after struggling with blisters on her right foot.
Czech Republic lead the tie 2-1.
Belgium are already in the finals after receiving a walkover with opponents Belarus being 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.”
Canada, led by U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, Italy, Spain and the U.S. are all in good positions to advance to the finals with 2-0 leads ahead of Saturday’s matches.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
