By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 2, 2021
Viktoria Kuzmova lead Team Slovakia to an upset of Team USA on Tuesday in Prague.
On a day of upsets at the Billie Jean King Cup in Prague, Team USA couldn’t avoid the bug.
Team Slovakia, lead by Viktoria Kuzmova, took out the Americans, 2-1.
Kuzmova, the World No.175, topped 40th-ranked Shelby Rogers, 6-4, 6-4, then paired with Tereza Mihalikova to defeat Coco Vandeweghe and Caroline Dolehide, 6-2, 5-7(5), 12-10 in a match tiebreak.
USA is in third place in Group C but can redeem themselves against Spain on Wednesday.
Sanders and Gavrilova lead Aussies Past Belgium
World No.131 Storm Sanders topped world No 18 Elise Mertens and World No.412 Daria Gavrilova topped Greet Minnen to send Team Australia past Belgium in Group B action on Tuesday. Gavrilova was playing her first competitive match since undergoing achilles tendon surgery this winter. The Aussies face Belarus for a shot to reach the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Bencic Shines on, Defeating Kerber
Belinda Bencic is having a ball playing for the Swiss flag in 2021. The Olympic gold medallist in singles and silver medallist in doubles knocked off Angelique Kerber to send Switzerland past Germany on Tuesday. The Swiss lead Group D standings but have work to do against host Prague tomorrow.
Russia dominant against Canada
The formidable Russian team blasted past Canada behind Anastasia Pavluchenkova and Daria Kasatkina, and need to win just one rubber in tomorrow’s tie against France to reach the semifinals.
All Day 2 Billie Jean King Cup Results:
Group A – Russian Tennis Federation defeated Canada 3-0 Daria Kasatkina (RTF) d. Carol Zhao (CAN) 6-3 6-1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RTF) d. Rebecca Marino (CAN) 6-4 4-6 6-2 Veronika Kudermetova/Liudmila Samsonova (RTF) d. Gabriela Dabrowski/Rebecca Marino (CAN) 6-3 6-1
Group B – Australia defeated Belgium 2-1 Daria Gavrilova (AUS) d. Greet Minnen (BEL) 6-4 1-6 6-4 Storm Sanders (AUS) d. Elise Mertens (BEL) 3-6 7-6(5) 6-0 Elise Mertens/Greet Minnen (BEL) d. Ellen Perez/Storm Sanders (AUS) 6-2 6-4
Group C – Slovakia defeated USA 2-1 Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK) d. Shelby Rogers (USA) 6-4 6-4 Danielle Collins (USA) d. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) 6-3 6-2 Viktoria Kuzmova/Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) d. Caroline Dolehide/CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) 6-2 6-7(5) [12-10]
Group D – Switzerland defeated Germany 3-0 Viktorija Golubic (SUI) d. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-4 7-5 Belinda Bencic (SUI) d. Angelique Kerber (GER) 7-5 2-6 6-2 Viktorija Golubic/Jil Teichmann (SUI) d. Anna-Lena Friedsam/Nastasja Schunk (GER) 6-1 6-2