World No. 10 Elena Rybakina beat Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to offer Kazakhstan an unassailable 2-0 lead over seven-time champion Australia of their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Brisbane.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, went down an early break within the Group D tie however cranked up her highly effective forehand and drew stage after six video games earlier than claiming the opening set on serve with a giant ace.
Birrell raced to a 5-1 lead within the second set however squandered a set level, and Rybakina clawed her approach again with some ferocious shot-making to safe the victory through a tiebreak.
“It was such a tough match,” mentioned Rybakina, who secured her eighth victory in 10 singles matches since her debut within the competitors in 2021. “I am tremendous completely satisfied to deliver the win for the crew … it is all the time good to be again in Australia.”
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Earlier, Yulia Putintseva defeated Maya Joint 6-2, 6-1 at Pat Rafter Area to offer Kazakhstan the early lead within the best-of-three matches contest.
Groups have been divided into six round-robin teams of three within the qualifiers this 12 months, with the winners becoming a member of host China and 2024 champion Italy on the Finals in Shenzhen towards the tip of the season.
The Czech Republic meets Brazil in Group B in Ostrava later Thursday, whereas Poland takes on Switzerland in Radom and the Netherlands host Germany in The Hague in Group F.
Poland will probably be with out French Open champion Iga Swiatek after the world No. 2 opted to skip their Group E ties to deal with her coaching forward of the clay-court season.
Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins had been amongst a trio of gamers to withdraw from the US crew for the three-day qualifiers.
Reuters contributed to this report.
