Prague, November 3 (BNA) Russia, the defending champion, was eliminated France, to become the first country to reach the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, today, Wednesday.
After sweeping Canada 3-0 the day before, Russia needed just one of their best-three win against France to qualify from Group A, according to the Associated Press.
She could count on her best player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, to deliver her.
12th seed Pavlyuchenkova advanced to defeat Alize Cornet 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to send Russia into the semi-finals.
After losing the first set, the Russian smashed Cornet in the opening matches of the next two sets to improve her record against her 59th seeded opponent 7-1, reaching 34 winners en route.
Russia will play the Group C winner, with the United States facing Spain later Wednesday.
After the 2019 champions beat Canada 2-1 in their opening match on Monday, France needed a 3-0 win over Russia to advance.
Last year’s release was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 12 teams in the finals are divided into four groups of three in a new format for the competition formerly known as the FA Cup. Only the group winners advance to the semi-finals on Friday.
Earlier, Clara Borrell kept France alive, winning the inaugural singles. 77th seed Borrell defeated 32nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6 6-4 6-3 to claim her first win over a top 50 player in her singles debut in the competition.
The Russian hit 34 winners but also made 44 unforced errors before making a double-fault on Burel’s fourth game point.
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