Swiatek extends winning streak to 19 matches as Poland reaches Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Swiatek loses only one game in her two singles wins as Poland beat Romania 4-0 to book their berth in the November Finals

Iga Swiatek at the Miami Open Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

April 18, 2022

While some players may feel the pressure of becoming the new world No 1, Poland’s Iga Swiatek was at her dominating best in her debut as the world’s top-ranked player in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers this weekend.

Playing in front of her home fans in Radom against the Romanian team, Swiatek dropped all of just one game in her two matches as she romped home to beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-0 on Saturday and then defeated Andreea Prisacariu 6-0, 6-0 to give Poland two points in the tie.

Poland went on to beat Romania 4-0 to secure their spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, which will be held in November this year.

USA and Czech Republic also advance to Billie Jean King Cup Finals

In other qualifier ties, Ukraine’s team almost pulled off an incredible comeback, coming from 0-2 down to level the tie and take it to a deciding tiebreak. But the Americans managed to come through in the doubles and complete the 3-2 win.

US Open champion Emma Raducanu went 1-1 in her national team debut, as Great Britain went down fighting to the Czech Republic.

Italy, Kazakhstan, Canada and Spain also qualified and will be joined by four other countries, who have already secured their spots for the Finals.

Switzerland have already booked their ticket to the 2022 Finals by virtue of finishing as runner-up last year. Australia replaces the reigning champions Russian Tennis Federation, who have been banned from the competition as a fallout of the Russia vs. Ukraine conflict. Meanwhile, Slovakia and Belgium have received byes into the 2022 Finals, which will be held on November 8 to 13, 2022.

Billie Jean King Cup 2022 Results