Jessica Pegula placed the United States in the final phase of the Billie Jean King Cup, where the team will have the opportunity to extend its record as the top winner of the contest.
Pegula and Coco Gauff racked up a pair of wins apiece as their country beat Austria 4-0 in Delray Beach, Florida. Pegula clinched the win in the five-game series, beating Julia Gabher 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday.
“I think it’s fun and a privilege to be at this moment and achieve this” commented Pegula, third in the ranking. “Obviously, there is some pressure but I think it’s fun to play these kinds of matches.”
The win gave the Americans an irretrievable 3-0 lead. Gauff reunited after her with her former doubles partner Caty McNally to defeat Sinja Kraus and Melanie KLaffner 6-1 6-4.
On Friday, Pegula won their singles duel after Gauff, in his hometown, began the series with a win over Grabjer.
Now, the Americans will be able to seek a 19th title in the women’s team competition, formerly known as the Fed Cup.
France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Germany, Canada and Italy have also secured tickets to the finals scheduled for November 7-12 at a venue to be defined.
Those nations will join reigning champions Switzerland, as well as 2022 runners-up Australia, and a team that will advance as a wild card. A finalist ticket is still to be defined from the playoffs.
All the mentioned nations have won the cup, with the exception of Kazakhstan and Canada.
Wimbledon reigning champion Elena Rybakina won both of her matches as the Kazakhs beat Poland 3-1 to advance to the finals for the second time in a row.
Canada advanced 3-2 over Belgium. Leylah Fernández and Gabriela Dabrowski defeated Kirsten Flipkens and Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-2.
The duel between Italy and Slovakia in Bratislava also required the five duels to be defined. Martina Trevisan and Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeated Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the decisive doubles match.
In other results, Caroline Garcia scored the final point as France beat Great Britain 3-1, beating Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-7 (10), 6-1. Marketa Vondrousova gave the Czechs a 3-1 victory over Ukraine, in a series moved to Turkey due to the Russian invasion.
Nuria Parrizas-Díaz won for the second day in a row as Spain beat Mexico 3-1, while Germany came from behind to beat Brazil 3-1.
Slovenia and Romania will need an extra day to complete their series as rain spoiled their decisive doubles duel, tied 3-3 in the first set.
