World No. 10 Elena Rybakina beat Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to give Kazakhstan an unassailable 2-0 lead over seven-time champion Australia in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Brisbane.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, went down an early break in the Group D tie but cranked up her powerful forehand and drew level after six games before claiming the opening set on serve with a big ace.
Birrell raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set but squandered a set point, and Rybakina clawed her way back with some ferocious shot-making to secure the victory via a tiebreak.
“It was such a difficult match,” said Rybakina, who secured her eighth victory in 10 singles matches since her debut in the competition in 2021. “I’m super happy to bring the win for the team … it’s always nice to be back in Australia.”
Earlier, Yulia Putintseva defeated Maya Joint 6-2, 6-1 at Pat Rafter Arena to give Kazakhstan the early lead in the best-of-three matches contest.
Teams have been divided into six round-robin groups of three in the qualifiers this year, with the winners joining host China and 2024 champion Italy at the Finals in Shenzhen toward the end of the season.
The Czech Republic meets Brazil in Group B in Ostrava later Thursday, while Poland takes on Switzerland in Radom and the Netherlands host Germany in The Hague in Group F.
Poland will be without French Open champion Iga Swiatek after the world No. 2 opted to skip their Group E ties to focus on her training ahead of the clay-court season.
Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins were among a trio of players to withdraw from the United States team for the three-day qualifiers.
Reuters contributed to this report.
