Japan’s Uchijima and Shibahara end Romania’s run in BJK Cup

Japan’s number one Moyuka Uchijima beat Anca Todoni to dash Romania’s hopes of reaching the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Ena Shibahara had got Japan off to a flying start in their Group A qualifying clash on Saturday.

Shibahara beat Miriam Bulgaru 7-5 6-2 and Uchijima overcame Todoni 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2 in two and a half hours in Tokyo to set up a winner-takes-all showdown with Canada on Sunday.

Todoni earned the first break to move ahead 4-2 in the opening set and maintained her advantage to close it out

The Romanian also led for much of the second set before Uchijima saved two match points and broke back to force a tiebreak.

Uchijima dominated that and broke Todoni twice in the third set to seal victory.

“I don’t know how I won the match. I am just happy that I was able to pull it off. Of course, the fans helped me a lot,” Uchijima said.

Shibahara had put Japan ahead to the delight of a vocal home crowd, pouncing at 6-5 to claim the first set and breaking Bulgaru twice in the second.

“I was nervous in the beginning. I think overall I played well,” Shibahara said. “It (the crowd) helps me so much, I love it when they’re loud. I really kept pressing and being aggressive.”

The winners of Group C will be decided in Sunday’s clash between the United States and Slovakia in Bratislava after Denmark, who lost to Slovakia on Friday, went down to the US as well.

Hailey Baptiste outplayed Rebecca Munk Mortensen 6-1 6-4 and Bernarda Pera beat Johanne Christine Svendsen 6-3 6-1 to give the US an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the tie.

The Czech Republic meet Spain in Group B in Ostrava later on Meanwhile, Australia swept past Colombia to end their bid to make the Billie Jean King finals on a winning note Saturday, but it was in vain after Kazakhstan had already qualified from their group.

Teenager Maya Joint crushed Yuliana Monroy 6-1, 6-0 in Brisbane before Kim Birrell sealed the tie with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Yuliana Lizarazo. Victory in the doubles concluded a 3-0 win.

“It’s always nice to get wins,” said Australia team captain Sam Stosur.

“Everyone went out wanting to finish the week on a high. They should all be very proud of what they did.”

The Elena Rybakina-led Kazakhstan had already beaten Australia and Colombia to make the eight-team finals in Shenzhen in September alongside hosts China and defending champions Italy.

While Australia and Colombia were consigned to the play-offs in November to determine who will be in the 2026 qualifiers, Saturday’s clash had ramifications. The winner received extra ranking points, which will impact seeding order in the play-offs. Japan face Canada on Sunday with the winner progressing to September’s showpiece in Shenzhen.

The current BJK Cup qualifiers feature six groups of three nations as the finals transition from a 12-team tournament to an eight-team set-up.

Britain face the Netherlands later Saturday with the winner advancing to the finals, while Ukraine are looking to tame Switzerland and ensure their qualification.

Agencies