Kazakhstan advances; Ukraine and young Canadians step up at BJK Cup

4m read 11 Apr 2025 2mo ago

Rybakina - 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers (vs. Colombia)

Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images

On Friday at the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, Elena Rybakina

sealed Kazakhstan's place in September's Billie Jean King Cup Finals, and Canada and Ukraine got off to hot starts.

With Kazakhstan becoming the first team to advance, the field for the Finals is starting to take shape. The six group winners from this week's action will join defending champion Italy and host country China at the Finals in Shenzhen.

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Notably, none of this week's ties have required a decisive doubles match thus far. All 10 ties spanning Thursday and Friday have been clinched by 2-0 singles sweeps.

Here is a round-up of Day 2 in the Qualifiers for the prestigious national-team event:

Group A: Canada d. Romania 3-0

Two of Canada's rising youngsters stepped up with singles wins in Group A's opening tie. Victoria Mboko

, 18, beat 6-1, 6-4, and , 20, defeated 6-4, 6-3.

Rebecca Marino

and added a doubles win for Canada to complete the sweep. The Canadians are still alive in their quest to win their second Billie Jean King Cup title in a three-year span.

"It was a high-quality match," said Stakusic, who was an integral part of Canada's first-ever BJK Cup title in 2023. "[Todoni] is an extremely tough opponent who hits hard, so I just tried to fight for every point.”

Group A is still in flux with two ties left to go.

Group B: Spain d. Brazil 3-0

Spain's first tie went swimmingly for the five-time champions. Sara Sorribes Tormo

beat 6-3, 7-5, and outlasted 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to lead 2-0. Sorribes Tormo and then won the doubles point to sweep.

Spain was the top nation of the 1990s at the Billie Jean King Cup. Behind Grand Slam champions Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez, they won the title five times in that decade.

On Saturday, Spain will face 11-time champions Czech Republic to determine who will win Group B and advance to the Finals. Brazil has been eliminated and cannot advance to the Finals.

Group C: Slovakia d. Denmark 2-0

The 2002 champions Slovakia had to fight for a win in Group C's first tie of the week. Viktoria Hruncakova

defeated Rebecca Munk Mortensen 6-4, 6-3 to open the tie.

The second match was much closer than expected by ranking. World No. 37 Rebecca Sramkova

needed to battle for 3 hours and 10 minutes before pulling out a 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 victory over 698th-ranked Johanne Christine Svendsen.

Group C is still up for grabs as we await this week's first appearance by 18-time champions United States, who are the third team in the group. They face Denmark on Saturday and Slovakia on Sunday.

Group D: Kazakhstan d. Colombia 3-0

Kazakhstan can book flights to Shenzhen for the Finals after winning Group D, eliminating Colombia and Australia. Friday featured more dominant performances by their Top 25 stars Elena Rybakina

and .

Putintseva cruised past Valentina Mediorreal Arias 6-0, 6-1 in just 37 minutes. The 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Yuliana Lizarazo in 51 minutes.

Colombia fought hard for the doubles point but fell short there as well. Zarina Diyas

and eked out a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win to complete the sweep for Kazakhstan.

Group E: Ukraine d. Poland 3-0

Poland won their tie on Thursday but they came back down to earth on Friday. Ukraine's pair of Top 25 players topped the Poles in singles to keep Group E competitive.

Marta Kostyuk

eased past 6-1, 6-2, and former World No. 3 bested 7-6(4), 6-3. The Kichenok sisters, Luydmyla and Nadiia, then won the doubles match to wrap up the 3-0 sweep.

Group E is still in play, but Ukraine can guarantee themselves advancement if they beat Switzerland on Saturday.