(Reuters) -Kazakhstan became the first team to secure their place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after a 3-0 win over Colombia, with Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva both comfortably winning their singles matches on Friday.
A day after the Kazakhs cruised past Australia in Brisbane, Putintseva got the ball rolling again for her country by mowing down Colombian debutant Valentina Mediorreal Arias 6-0 6-1 for her 22nd singles win in the premier women’s team event.
World number 10 Rybakina was equally dominant in her clash with Yuliana Lizarazo, winning five out of seven break points to secure a 6-1 6-2 win and book her nation a spot in the knockout stages for the third time.
“We have a really good team and I’m super happy to get the win. I’m looking forward to the Finals, we’re really glad to be in it,” said Rybakina.
Zarina Diyas and Zhibek Kulambayeva then overcame Lizarazo and Maria Paulina Perez-Garcia 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the doubles match to complete the whitewash.
The result ended seven-times champions Australia’s hopes of advancing from Group D, with only the winners of the six round-robin groups of three going through to the Finals to be held in Shenzhen in September.
Kazakhstan will join hosts China and 2024 champions Italy, with Group E leaders Poland set to progress if they can defeat Ukraine in Radom.
Canada got off to a superb start in Group A in Tokyo, as the 2023 champions took a 2-0 advantage over Romania thanks to wins by Victoria Mboko and Marina Stakusic.
In other ties, Spain meet Brazil in Group B in Ostrava, Slovakia play Denmark in Group C in Bratislava and Britain take on Germany in Group F in The Hague.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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