AUS 0-2 SVK: Sramkova powers Slovakia into semi-final
17/11/2024 12:08
Dominant performance from world No. 43 sets up last-four meeting with either Great Britain or defending champions Canada
By Matt Roberts
The smallest country at these Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals are through to the final four.
Slovakia, who upset the United States on Thursday, have now beaten another Grand Slam nation, with Viktoria Hruncakova and Rebecca Sramkova powering them to a 2-0 victory over Australia in their quarter-final tie in Malaga.
“For us, it’s always a big challenge to play those countries”, Hruncakova said. “We have nothing to lose. That’s why I think we enjoy it so much.”
The two matches could barely have been more different. Hruncakova was forced to dig deep to beat Kimberly Birrell 7-5 6-7(4) 6-3 over two hours and 31 minutes before Sramkova defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 6-2 in just 70 minutes.
It means Slovakia are through to the semi-finals for the first time since 2013. Riding a wave of confidence, they will face the winners of Great Britain vs Canada in Tuesday’s semi-final.
After Thursday night’s thrilling victory over the United States, Slovakia captain Matej Liptak decided to tinker with his line-up on Sunday morning, bringing in Hruncakova to replace Renata Jamrichova in the No.2 singles position. It was a move that paid off.
Throughout the match, Hruncakova was the more proactive player, firing nine aces and a further 13 baseline winners in the opening set, which saw her surge to the finish by reeling off eight straight points.
With little to choose between the two players, the second set headed to a tiebreak and was full of mini breaks and momentum swings. The decisive one came when Birrell struck a huge forehand return winner to go up 5-3 and closed it out confidently from there.
In the decider, Hruncakova’s resilience was remarkable - she survived two break points in an eight-minute service game at 1-2 and then struck with a stunning forehand passing shot to break. From there, she was relentless with her big hitting, and came through an extraordinary final game lasting more than 10 minutes.
Birrell was fighting with everything she had, but Hruncakova’s thunderous power off the ground was overwhelming. She clinched victory to improve her formidable Billie Jean King Cup singles record to 13 wins from 16 matches.
“I’m so happy with the way I played”, Hruncakova said. “My serve was working very well today. I was proud that in the important moments I stayed aggressive and I went for it. I gave everything I had, I played with all my heart.”
So Sramkova stepped on to court knowing that victory would take Slovakia through and there was barely a moment’s jeopardy in her match. She won double the number of points to Tomljanovic in a dominant opening set, which also saw the Australian forced to take a medical timeout for a knee injury after a nasty fall.
Tomljanovic fought hard in the second set but Sramkova had all the answers, keeping up her intensity and redirecting the ball for winner after winner.
Sramkova has been one of the tour’s most in-form players recently and she’s now won 19 of her last 23 matches. She described herself as being in the “zone”, just like she was when she beat the USA's Danielle Collins on Thursday. It will take a brilliant performance to stop her.
