Svitolina shines as Ukraine beat Spain to enter Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals

Ukraine reached the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time with gritty performances from Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk against Spain on Wednesday.

Svitolina defeated Paula Badosa 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to wrap up the quarter-final tie for Ukraine in the women’s team competition.

Kostyuk beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 earlier in the day in Shenzhen.

The Ukrainians will now take on defending champions Italy on Friday.

“I had to really dig deep for this win,” said Svitolina, the world number 13.

“I’m super-pleased with the team performance, not only my performance today, because you know it takes a lot of people.

“All the guys here in the tracksuits of Ukraine, and the crowd as well made it really special for us today.

“It was a really important point, not only for our team but also for our country for the first time to be in the semi-finals.”

The Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre holds good memories for Svitolina, who reached the championship match of the prestigious WTA Finals when they were held there in 2019.

Badosa was playing her first match since Wimbledon, having been sidelined with a back injury.

Svitolina and Badosa are two of the biggest fighters of the game and their two-hour eight-minute battle was testament to that.

Badosa let a break advantage slip away and saved a set point while serving at 4-5 before she grabbed the opening set after 52 minutes.

Svitolina swiftly responded, sailing ahead 3-0 in the second frame to level the match.

She looked in control of the decider when she leapt to a 4-1 advantage but Badosa pegged her back and was soon on level terms.

The Spanish former world number two had an opportunity to break at 5-5 but Svitolina stayed resolute and swatted away the break point en route to victory.

In the first match of the tie, Kostyuk survived the big-hitting Bouzas Maneiro to improve her singles record in the competition to 9-3.

“Just to represent my country here in the World Cup, just being here, doesn’t matter I win or lose, is such a big honour,” said Kostyuk.

Britain face Japan in the quarter-finals on Thursday while the United States take on Kazakhstan.

Anne Keothavong, captain of the British women’s team, is without Emma Raducanu after she pulled out to play in South Korea.

“Obviously it’s just disappointing not to have your top player here, but we’re here and we’re ready to go tomorrow,” Keothavong said on Wednesday.

“The players I’ve got here are well prepared and excited about the challenge of taking on Japan tomorrow.”

In the absence of Raducanu, world number 55 Katie Boulter headlines the British team in Shenzhen.

Japan will be without four-time former Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.

Townsend apologises for comments about Chinese food: American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologised “from the bottom of my heart” for making disparaging comments about Chinese food.

Her original comments on social media - followed by her apology — came before the United States plays Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China.

The 29-year-old Townsend, who is ranked world No. 1 in doubles, posted videos of local dishes including bullfrogs and turtles and joked she would need to “talk to HR” about the quality of the food.

She took to Instagram again Wednesday to apologize after facing a backlash online.

“I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart,” said Townsend, who said she understood how privileged she is as a professional athlete to be able to travel around the world and experience cultural differences.

“(It’s) one of the things that I love so much about what I do, and I have had nothing but the most amazing experience in time here and the tournament,” Townsend said.

Agencies