34 points, 30 minutes: Alison Riske and Dayana Yastremska, opposed in the first qualifying singles match for the Billie Jean King Cup finals between the United States and Ukraine on Friday in Asheville, North Carolina, played in of the first set the longest tie-break in the singles history of the competition, which was called Fed Cup before 2021. The American won this decisive game 18-16 before winning the second set and therefore the game (7-6 [16]7-5).
While their tiebreak is the longest ever played by two players in the BJK Cup, that of a doubles match lasted even longer, according to the International Tennis Federation. It was in 2004, when the competition was still called the Fed Cup: the Indians Manisha Malhotra and Sania Mirza had won a 21-19 tie-break at the expense of the Uzbeks Vlada Ekshibarova and Ivanna Israilova, during a qualifying match for the Asian zone in Tashkent.
The American Tennis Federation has announced that part of the ticketing revenue will be donated to an association helping Ukraine, the target since February 24 of a Russian military invasion.
First game on clay and first victory for Raducanu
In other matches, Emma Raducanu, winner of the last US Open, played her first pro match on clay and in a team competition. The Briton won (7-5, 7-5) against the Czech Tereza Martincova and therefore opened her counter on ochre. The two countries are tied after the first day.
Note the first victory of Iga Swiatek as world number one. The Polish wandered (6-1, 6-0) against the Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu. Poland leads 2-0.
