Billie Jean King Cup
Paula Badosa and Nuria Parrizas move closer to qualifying for the semifinals after defeating Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva
Day of smiles and happiness for Spain in Glasgow. Nuria Parrizas and Paula Badosa won their individual commitments in their debut at the Billie Jean King, defeating Kazakhstan and bringing the Spanish team closer to the semifinals. A victory against Great Britain today would ensure the passage of Anabel Medina’s women to the fight for the title. It would be the first time that Spain has been among the top four in the tournament since 2008, when the team reached the final, with Carla Suárez, Medina, Nuria Llagostera and Virginia Ruano, and lost to Russia.
The Kazakhs, a priori favorites due to the conditions of the track and for having a Grand Slam winner, took a harsh correction in Glasgow, where Badosa and Parrizas were at an excellent level to give the first point to Spain. The day was opened by Parrizas against Yulia Putintseva, number 51 in the world and who came more shot, with a victory on Tuesday against the local Katie Boulter. But it was the Granada woman who seemed most adapted to the track. She started with a surprising 4-0 and had three balls to take a 5-0 lead in the first set. Putintseva, winner of two titles on the circuit and who has reached three Grand Slam quarterfinals, was proud and came back to 5-4, when Parrizas did not shake her pulse to close the first set.
A huge moral blow for Putintseva, who appeared in this duel as the favorite and who needed to row not to leave with a quick defeat. Thanks to her ability to force Parrizas’ errors, much more nervous in the second set, with up to 17 unforced errors, the Kazakh leveled the contest with a 6-2 that smelled like a comeback in the Scottish capital. And she gave it continuity by starting the third quarter 2-0 and 30-0 up.
Putintseva had raised the score, but Parrizas had one resurrection left. He went from 0-2 to 4-2 and served for the match at 5-4, when he had the first two break points. They did not take advantage of any of them and the game headed for a tiebreaker in which Granada wasted another three match balls. There was tension, but on the fifth match point, this time with Putintseva’s serve, the first point fell for Spain (6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5)).
the final point
The victory passed all the responsibility to Badosa, who knew that if he won he would put Spain in an unbeatable position to be in the semifinals of a tournament that had not been won since 1998, when Aranxta Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez led the team. The Catalan came out like a shell and devastated a Wimbledon champion like Elena Rybakina. She took the first set in half an hour 6-2, against an opponent whose powerful shots went down the doubles aisle (she made eleven unforced errors).
The Kazakh, born in Moscow, stopped the bleeding in the second set and took advantage of the tension of Badosa, who had not competed for a month, when she had to withdraw injured from Guadalajara. Rybakina, at 6-3, forced a third set in which she had no trouble getting ahead with a 1-3 that opened the possibility of the final doubles being played. Badosa, with a lot of courage and strength, did not let go, equalized at 3-3 and made it 5-4 with a serve for Rybakina. It was a life or death game and Badosa took it that way. She had two match points, lost both and saved three times in which the Kazakh was able to make it 5-5. On the third match point, Rybakina hit a deflected down the line shot and the Spanish triumph came (6-2, 3-6, 6-4).
Today, starting at 5:00 p.m. in Spain, the Medina team will face Great Britain, which acts as a local and has in its ranks Harriet Dart (98), Boulter (124), Heather Watson (133) , Alicia Barnett (60 in the world in doubles) and Olivia Nicholls (63 in the world in doubles). The British suffered a setback in their aspirations with the last-minute withdrawal of Emma Raducanu. On the opening day they lost 2-1 against Kazakhstan.
