Czech duo Katerina Siniakova and Marketa Vondrousova won a deciding doubles against Poland to set up a crunch clash with USA on Friday, with the winner set to earn a place in the last four at the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals.
A first-time pairing following Barbora Krejcikova's withdrawal from the Finals due to a hand injury, Siniakova and Vondrousova gelled seamlessly to defeat Katarzyna Kawa and Magda Linette 6-2 6-3 in 61 minutes on Thursday night.
Karolina Muchova had given Czech Republic a comfortable start when she defeated Magdalena Frech 6-2 6-2 in just 75 minutes but, though Magda Linette hit back with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Karolina Pliskova, the Czechs cooly closed out the tie in the doubles.
“The win is important," said captain Petr Pala. "It gives us a chance to get to the semi-finals. We play probably the favourite team here to win, the US, tomorrow. We have to get ready, recover from today, but I’m very happy the way we won.”
Dawid Celt’s Poland team always knew they faced a steep task against the 11-time champion Czechs, and that task appeared even more daunting with Muchova’s confident start against Frech.
Frech had produced an incredible performance - albeit in a three-set defeat to USA's Danielle Collins - the previous evening, but she failed to muster a repeat against Muchova 24 hours later. Muchova, the world No. 149, had ranked in the Top 20 just over a year ago before tumbling down the rankings after a spate of injuries, and she showed on Thursday exactly what she is capable of when fit and healthy. She fired 22 winners - including 18 off her forehand flank - in an assured display that expertly masked the emotions bubbling underneath.
"Honestly from this side I was a little nervous," admitted Muchova, who was making just her second singles appearance for her country, and first since 2019. "It's been a while since I played. I played doubles [in April's Qualifiers] this year, but it's something a little different. "I'm just happy that I shook it off, played my game and brought a point to the team."
That left Pliskova with a chance to wrap up the tie against Linette, and their recent history suggested she would do just that. The rangy Czech has been a tough opponent for the Pole in the past – winning seven of their last eight contests, including at the US Open earlier this year.
But Linette, now the world No. 49, is a cool customer in country colours and she capitalised on the Czech's struggles on serve and a host of Pliskova errors – 33 by the match’s end – to send the tie to a decider."I think she played really well," said Pliskova. "She didn't really give me much mistakes from the baseline, and there was not much I could do."Petr Pala, as so often the case in recent years, could be grateful of the depth available to him in his team - particularly in doubles - as Vondrousova and Siniakova made light work of fellow first-time pair Linette and Kawa.
“All the girls in the team can play doubles on a very high level," said Pala. "This was one of the options and I’m happy it worked out.”
