Billie Jean King Cup: Flawless Swiatek sends Poland into finals

Poland's world number one Iga Swiatek handed Romania's Andreea Prisacariu a double bagel en route to victory in its Billie Jean King Cup qualifier on Saturday, securing a 3-0 win in the tie and a spot in November's finals for the first time.

Swiatek, who put her country up 2-0 on Friday's opening day by thrashing Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1 6-0 for an 18th straight win. (File Photo)

Poland's world number one Iga Swiatek handed Romania's Andreea Prisacariu a double bagel en route to victory in its Billie Jean King Cup qualifier on Saturday, securing a 3-0 win in the tie and a spot in November's finals for the first time.

Swiatek, who put her country up 2-0 on Friday's opening day by thrashing Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-0 for an 18th straight win, continued to stamp her authority on the tie as the 20-year-old broke Prisacariu six times in Radom, Poland.

"I'm really proud. I was really working hard for that. Even though I didn't play last year, I feel it's been a long journey and it took us a few years to progress step by step and qualify for the finals," Swiatek said after her 6-0, 6-0 victory.

"It just shows what a strong team we are. Hopefully in the finals we're going to show even more progress and we're going to succeed."

Joining Poland in the finals is Kazakhstan, which beat visitor Germany 3-0 with Elena Rybakina coming from a set down to get past three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Nur-Sultan.

Harriet Dart kept Britain's hopes alive against Czech Republic by levelling the tie at 2-2, claiming her first singles victory in the competition with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win over 16-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova.

The 25-year-old Dart looked to be cruising to victory in the second set before Fruhvirtova saved two match points, but she dug deep to take the tie to a doubles decider.

Earlier, Britain's U.S. open champion Emma Raducanu lost 6-1, 6-1 against 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova in Prague after struggling with blisters on her right foot.

"I definitely think I gave my team a little bit of a heart attack," Dart said. "It's natural that I was a bit nervous to try and close it out.

"Linda is a great player... She fought really hard and I am just really pleased to get through."

Four-time winner Italy also advanced after Camila Giorgi, who had given her country a 2-0 lead on Friday, secured the decisive point in its victory over France in Sardinia with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of Harmony Tan.

Spain will bid for a sixth title, despite missing Paula Badosa and Garbine Muguruza this weekend, after Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-0 6-4 to secure its passage to the finals.

Canada, led by U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, and the U.S. are also in prime position to advance with 2-0 leads before resuming their ties against Latvia and Ukraine respectively later on Saturday.

Belgium is already in the finals after receiving a walkover with opponents Belarus being suspended from international team competitions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus is a key staging area for the invasion, which Russia calls a "special operation."