Paula Badosa and Nuria Parrizas move closer to qualifying for the semi-finals after beating Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva
Day of Smiles and Happiness for Spain in Glasgow. Nuria Parrizas and Paula Badosa won their individual commitments in their debut with the Billie Jean King, beating Kazakhstan and bringing the Spanish team closer to the semifinals. A victory over Great Britain today would ensure the passage of Anabel Medina’s women to the battle for the title. It would be Spain’s first time in the top four of the tournament since 2008, when the team reached the final, with Carla Suárez, Medina, Nuria Llagostera and Virginia Ruano, losing to Russia.
The Kazakhs, a priori favorites due to track conditions and having a Grand Slam winner, took a hard correction in Glasgow, where Badosa and Parrizas were on an excellent level to give Spain the first point. The day was opened by Parrizas against Yulia Putintseva, number 51 in the world and who got more shots, with a win on Tuesday against local Katie Boulter. But it was the woman from Granada who seemed most adapted to the track. He started with a surprising 4-0 and had a 5-0 lead in the first set with three balls. Putintseva, winner of two titles on the track and who has reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals, was proud and came back to 5-4, when Parrizas failed to shake her wrist to close the first set.
A huge moral blow to Putintseva, who appeared in this duel as the favorite and who had to row in order not to leave with a quick defeat. Thanks to her ability to force errors from Parrizas, much more nervous in the second set, with up to 17 unforced errors, the Kazakh evened the game with a 6-2 that smelled of a comeback in the Scottish capital. And he ensured continuity by starting the third quarter 2-0 and 30-0.
Putintseva had upped the score, but Parrizas had one resurrection left. He went from 0-2 to 4-2 and served for the game at 5-4, when he had the first two break points. They did not take advantage of it and the game headed for a tiebreak in which Granada lost another three game balls. There was tension, but on the fifth match point, this time with the service of Putintseva, the first point fell for Spain (6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5)).
The win placed all the responsibility on Badosa, who knew that if he won, he would put Spain in an unbeatable position to reach the semi-finals of a tournament that had not been won since 1998, when Aranxta Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez led the team. The Catalan came out like a shell and devastated a Wimbledon champion like Elena Rybakina. She took the first set 6-2 in half an hour, against a rival whose powerful shots went down the double aisle (she made 11 unforced errors).
The Moscow-born Kazakh stopped the bleeding in the second set and took advantage of the tension of Badosa, who hadn’t played for a month, when she had to withdraw from Guadalajara injured. Rybakina forced a third set 6-3 in which it was not difficult for her to take the lead with a 1-3 that opened up the possibility for the final double play. Badosa, with a lot of courage and strength, didn’t let go, equalized at 3-3 and made it 5-4 with a serve to Rybakina. It was a game of life or death and Badosa took it that way. He had two match points, lost both and saved three times in which the Kazakh made it 5-5. On the third match point, Rybakina hit a deflected shot down the line and the Spanish triumph came (6-2, 3-6, 6-4).
Today, from 5pm in Spain, the Medina team will take on Great Britain acting as a local and in its ranks Harriet Dart (98), Boulter (124), Heather Watson (133), Alicia Barnett (60 in the world in doubles) and Olivia Nicholls (63 in the world in doubles). The British suffered a setback in their ambitions with the last minute withdrawal of Emma Raducanu. On the opening day, they lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan.
Source: La Verdad
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