Britain and Italy reach tennis finals
Great Britain reached the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage won a decisive doubles to beat Australia, and Italy — the defending champion — also advanced through the qualifiers. (bbc.com) The qualifiers set seven finalists in September, and notable upsets included Belgium defeating the United States in the qualifying round. (wtatennis.com) (sportstar.thehindu.com)
Great Britain and Italy booked places in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Saturday, capping a qualifying weekend that also sent the United States out. (billiejeankingcup.com) Britain beat Australia 3-1 in Melbourne after Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage won the deciding doubles rubber 6-3, 6-4 against Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez in 1 hour 24 minutes. Britain had taken a 2-0 lead on Friday through singles wins by 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic and Dart. (billiejeankingcup.com) Italy, the defending champion, also advanced by beating Japan 3-0, with Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani clinching the tie in doubles after Paolini and Lucia Bronzetti won the opening singles matches. Ukraine, Spain, Kazakhstan and Belgium joined them among the teams through to September. (wtatennis.com) The Billie Jean King Cup is the women’s world team championship in tennis, and this round decided seven places in the 2026 Finals. The qualifiers were played on April 10-11, with 14 nations competing in home-and-away ties for those seven spots. (billiejeankingcup.com) That made Belgium’s win over the United States the standout upset of the weekend. Belgium sealed that tie when Hanne Vandewinkel and Greet Minnen beat Caty McNally and Bernarda Pera 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in doubles after the teams split the singles rubbers. (wtatennis.com) Britain’s result also reversed the last meeting between the countries in this event. Australia beat Great Britain 2-1 in the 2022 qualifiers, winning the tie on a deciding doubles match tiebreak. (tennis.com.au) For Britain, the tie turned on two lower-profile wins before the doubles clincher. Stojsavljevic, ranked outside the top 300, beat Talia Gibson 7-6 (4), 7-5 on debut, and Dart then came from a set down to beat Kimberly Birrell 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. (abc.net.au) The Finals are scheduled for September in Shenzhen, with the last qualifying place completed after the Switzerland-Czechia tie. Teams that lost this weekend drop into the 2026 playoffs in November instead of the title event. (wtatennis.com)
