Czechia beats Ukraine 3-1 in Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers

The Czech women's tennis team has beaten Ukraine 3-1 in the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, with Czechia's former Roland Garros runner-up Markéta Vondroušová winning the deciding match against Katarina Zavatksa on Saturday afternoon 6-3, 6-4.

After a strong start on Friday, with Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejčíková beating Ukraine's Katarina Zavatska 6-4 6-3 and Markéta Vondroušová defeating Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-1, Czechia was 2-0 ahead of Ukraine in the best-of-five clash.

But 2021 French Open champion Krejčíková didn't manage to repeat her Friday victory over Zavatska, losing Saturday morning's match 6-3, 1-6, 4-6 to the 20-year-old Kostyuk in two hours and six minutes.

Vondroušová's win against Katarina Zavatska has ensured that the Czech team will advance to the finals in November.

The qualifiers were played on neutral ground in the Turkish city of Antalya rather than in Ukraine, due to Russia's invasion of the latter country.