BRISBANE: Former Wimble­don champion Elena Rybakina put Kazakhstan on course for the Billie Jean King Cup finals on Thursday, helping her country take down Australia in a qualifying tie.

The world number 10 battled past Kim Birrell 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, rallying from 3-1 down in the first set and 5-1 behind in the second.

It gave Kazakhstan an unsurmountable 2-0 lead after world number 23 Yulia Putintseva outclassed teenager Maya Joint 6-2, 6-1 in just 74 minutes in the opening rubber.

“Such a difficult match and super happy to bring the win for the team, and Yulia did a great job in her match,” said Rybakina, who has an 8-1 win singles record at the BJK Cup — previously known as the Fed Cup.

“I played pretty well in the first set, but it was difficult and I was just trying to fight in the second set when I was down.”

Putintseva added: “It was definitely a good game for me and I love playing in Brisbane. I think today was just one of those days when everything was working.”

All ties are best-of-three — two singles and a doubles.

Kazakhstan meet Colombia at the same venue on Friday and will progress to the finals at Shenzhen in China this year if they win. Austr­alia face Colombia on Saturday.

The BJK Cup qualifiers feature six groups of three nations as the finals transition from a 12-team tournament to an eight-team event, mirroring the men’s Davis Cup format.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025