MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Slovakia rallied to beat Britain 2-1 and reach its first Billie Jean King Cup final in more than two decades on Tuesday.
Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova defeated Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson 6-2, 6-2 in the decisive doubles match, putting Slovakia back in the final for the first time since 2002 to face last year’s runner-up Italy on Wednesday.
“Absolutely special moment for our country, for our players, for tennis in Slovakia,” captain Matej Liptak said. “It’s so many years when we won it once only. But today it’s really real, and we are just one step from the maybe biggest victory of our team or team members. We will try to enjoy it.”
Britain was trying to reach the final of the women’s team event for the first time in more than four decades.
“We’re all absolutely gutted,” Britain team captain Anne Keothavong said. “We came into this event really believing that we had a good shot at it and unfortunately we fell short. We came up against a better team. It’s still pretty raw right now. It’s quite difficult to find the right words.”