Tomorrow the Asian team, which made it to this stage of the tournament for the first time, will compete with Italy
Women’s Japan team in tennis won a strong-willed victory over Romania in the first round match of the final part Billie Jean King Cup – 2:1.
The opening match between Nao Hibino and Ana Bogdan ended in favor of the latter. The Romanian confidently took the first set, losing only two games to her opponent. In the second game, Anya managed to realize a break with the score 1:1, which was enough for the final victory – 6:2, 6:4.
The Land of the Rising Sun took revenge in the second fight of the day. The confrontation between Ena Shibahara and Jacqueline Christian was an even fight, but at the decisive moments the Japanese was stronger: in the first set she took someone else’s serve with a score of 5:4, and in the second she left her opponent no chance in the tiebreaker – 7:2.
The fate of reaching the quarterfinals was decided by the duel in doubles. Suko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi outright won the first game against Monica Niculescu and Gabriela Ruse. During the second set, the Asian tandem missed a match point three times, but still put the finishing touches on their opponents in the 12th game.
Japan reached the quarter finals of a tournament in this format for the first time. There she will compete with the Italian team. Romania, which dramatically knocked out Ukraine (3:2) in qualifying, withdrew from the tournament.
Let us remind you that the start of the final part of the Billie Jean King Cup has been postponed to Thursday, November 14, due to unfavorable weather conditions. The tournament, which takes place in Malaga, Spain, was supposed to begin on Wednesday with a match between the national teams of Spain and Poland. However, city and regional authorities issued a message about severe deterioration in weather conditions. The organizers decided to postpone the start of the event.
The winners of the first round games advance to the quarterfinals, which automatically includes defending champion Canada, as well as the national teams of Australia, the Czech Republic and Italy. The 2024 Billie Jean King Cup final is scheduled for November 20th.
- Billie Jean King Cup. Malaga, Spain. The final part. 1st round
Japan — Romania — 2:1
Nao Hibino – Ana Bogdan — 0:2 (2:6, 4:6)
Ena Shibahara — Jacqueline Christian — 2:0 (6:4, 7:6)
Suko Aoyama / Eri Hozumi – Monica Niculescu / Gabriela Ruse – 2:0 (6:1, 7:5)
Source: Sportarena
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