Switzerland will play in the Billie Jean King Cup for the second consecutive year after winning both singles rubber matches against Czech Republic
Viktorija Golubic beat Karolina Muchova 6-4 6-4 in the opening match to give Switzerland a 1-0 lead. Olympic champion Belinda Bencic came back from 2-5 down in the second set and saved a set point to beat Karolina Pliskova 6-2 7-6 (8-6) securing Switzerland a spot in the final.
In the first match Golubic scored her first win over Muchova following defeats in their two previous head-to-head matches. Golubic raced out to a 3-0 lead with a double break. Muchova fended off a break point before earning two break points for 4-4 in the eighth game. Golubic saved them before serving out the first set at love in the 10th game to seal the first set after 42 minutes.
Both players traded breaks twice in the second set. Golubic earned her third break in the seventh game and consolidated it to take a 5-3 lead before serving out the second set.
In the second match Bencic earned two breaks in the third and fifth games to take a 4-1 lead. Pliskova pulled one break back in the sixth game after two double faults from Bencic.
Bencic earned a second break in the seventh game and served out the first set 6-2 at love in the eighth game after 30 minutes. Pliskova made 15 unforced errors in the opening set. Pliskova earned an early break in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. The Czech player held on her serve until the eighth game. Bencic converted her fourth break-back point in the ninth game and held serve in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Bencic won the tie-break 8-6 on her second match point, when Pliskova sent her return long.
“It feels pretty good. It’s good to be in the final again. We were trying for that but doing that again after last year, it’s a great achievement to come back and prove it again. I am really happy that we get to have this chance again. I think we work hard for our chances. As Heinz Guenthartdt once told me: ‘Give luck a chance.’ We are trying to do that. Hopefully tomorrow we will give our best, do absolutely everything we can, and then we will see if it’s going to be enough, but we are happy that we have another chance”, said Bencic.
Czech Republic beat pre-event favourites from the USA on Friday.
Switzerland is bidding to win its first Billie Jean King Cup after finishing runner-up in 1998 and 2001.
This Sunday’s final will be a match between the last two runners-up at this event. Australia lost to France in 2019 under the competition’s previous format when the tournament was named the Fed Cup. Switzerland lost to the Russian Tennis Federation at the inaugural Billie Jean King Cup in Prague last year.
