Poland will play in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Iga Swiatek sealed the important win.
The tie between Poland and Spain should have taken place already on Wednesday, but the tie had to be postponed due to the severe storms in the region.
On Thursday, two ties already took place in Malaga, with Japan beating Romania 2-1 and Slovakia stunning the United States of America with the same scoreline.
On Friday, the play started with the postponed tie between Spain and Poland, and it was a proper marathon day, which could have pushed the whole schedule far back had it not finished after two matches already.
The reason for it was simple. In the first match of the tie, Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo took on Poland's Magda Linette, and the Spanish player is known for playing marathon matches.
That was the case also this time. Both players broke each other's serve multiple times in the first set of the match, just for it to be decided in a tie-break, which Linette won to lead after an hour and 34 minutes.
Sorribes Tormo then leveled the score after the second set, winning it 6-2, but Linette was the better player in the match, winning the third set and the match 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-4 after three hours and 49 minutes.
Importantly, that gave Poland the first point in this tie, and with the highest-ranked player in the competition taking to the court next, the odds were in their favor.
However, Swiatek had to take on Paula Badosa, who has been on fire in recent weeks. The Spanish player certainly came to Malaga in good form, and she was also backed by the home crowd.
She also had the first chance in the first set, having a break point in the sixth game to lead 4-2. She couldn't use that chance, and it immediately backfired, as Swiatek won four consecutive games to win the opening set 6-3.
The Pole then started the second set by winning 12 of the first 16 rallies, and very quickly, she led 3-0. It seemed like the quarter-final dreams were over for the Spanish team, but that was until Badosa started an inspired comeback.
The Spanish player recovered from the one-break deficit, twice, as she then lost her serve again, and she could even go up 5-4 with a break. She couldn't do that, failing to use two break points, so the second set was decided in a tie-break.
Badosa managed to bait her opponent into errors, as she won the tie-break 7-5, sending the match into the decider.
However, the Spaniard couldn't hold her serve in the third set, and she obviously couldn't win the match like that. Swiatek broke Badosa's serve every single time to win the match 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, sending Poland into the quarter-finals of the competition. Up next, Poland will play against the Czech Republic, who had a first-round BYE.
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