Kazakhstan's women's tennis team has ended its run at the Billie Jean King Cup, the team equivalent of the world championship. In the quarterfinals, the national team lost to Spain in a maximum three matches, 1-2, infohub.kz reports.
The decisive stage of the competition began on hard courts in Shenzhen, China. The Kazakh team entered the top eight teams in the world and reached the final stage of the tournament.
In the first singles match, Sonya Zhiyenbayeva lost to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 2-6, 2-6. Then Yulia Putintseva defeated Cristina Bucșa 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. The outcome was decided by the doubles match: Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva lost to Bucșa and Sara Sorribes Tormo 2-6, 5-7.
Spain advanced to the semifinals, where they will face the Czech Republic. In other quarterfinals, Ukraine will play Belgium, and Italy will face China.
Kazakhstan competed in the Billie Jean King Cup final draw without Elena Rybakina. The world No. 1 in singles was on the roster but withdrew from the competition after her victorious US Open due to an Achilles tendon problem.