GLASGOW (Reuters) – Switzerland booked their place in the last four of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals as Viktorija Golubic and Belinda Bencic claimed singles victories against Canada on Friday.
Golubic hit back to beat former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu 2-6 6-3 6-4 before Bencic beat Leylah Fernandez 6-0 7-5 to give last year’s runners-up an unassailable lead.
Switzerland will top Group A and will face a semi-final against either the Czech Republic or the United States who face off in a Group D decider later in Glasgow.
Friday’s clash between the Swiss and the Canadians was effectively a group decider after both teams beat Italy.
Golubic replaced Jil Teichmann and initially the switch appeared to be backfiring for the Swiss as Andreescu ran away with the opening set.
But errors began creeping into the Andreescu game and Golubic raised her level to take full advantage, taking the second set and moving 5-2 in front in the decider.
Andreescu did manage to recover one break of serve after a medical timeout but Golubic sealed victory.
Bencic then came out all guns blazing against Fernandez to race through the opening set, but the Canadian dug deep in an absorbing second set before Bencic wrapped up victory.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
