Doubles win lifts U.S. over Poland at Billie Jean King Cup
Spain, Switzerland, Slovakia claim victories earlier on Wednesday
Coco Gauff and Caty McNally beat the Polish pair of Magda Linette and Alicja Rosolska 6-1, 6-2 to give the United States a 2-1 win at the Billie Jean King Cup team event on Wednesday.
Earlier Linette beat Madison Keys 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in singles to force the deciding doubles after Danielle Collins gave the Americans a 1-0 lead in the opening singles against Magdalena French with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) win.
The tournament was formerly known as the Fed Cup and is the premiere team event in women's tennis.
Collins' match began about two later than scheduled after some long matches earlier in the day, and the decisive doubles match finished after 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
Spain, Switzerland and Slovakia all earned victories earlier.
Paula Badosa gave Spain an unassailable 2-0 lead against Kazakhstan by beating Elena Rybakina 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in her debut at the event.
WOW, that is how you finish a match! 🤯<br><br>McCoco put on a clinic in the deciding doubles and secure the tie for Team USA 🇺🇸<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BJKCupFinals?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BJKCupFinals</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/usta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@usta</a> <a href="https://t.co/XyKiCQLT6l">pic.twitter.com/XyKiCQLT6l</a>
—@BJKCupSwitzerland swept Italy 3-0 with Jil Teichmann and Belinda Bencic both winning their singles matches before teaming up to take the doubles match as well.
Viktoria Kuzmova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova had singles wins for Slovakia, which beat Belgium 2-1.
There are 12 teams in the competition and they are split into four groups of three. Each match consists of two singles and a doubles.
The group winners will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, with the final on Sunday.
