Slovakia Stuns USA in Billie Jean King Cup Upset

A spirited Slovakian squad stunned the United States today.

Slovakia ended the United States’ Billie Jean King Cup title hopes early Friday morning in Malaga, Spain, scoring a 2-1 victory in a decisive doubles match to move onto the quarterfinals.

After Taylor Townsend won her first Billie Jean King Cup singles match over 17-year-old junior star Renata Jamrichova, 43rd-ranked Rebecca Sramkova upended Danielle Collins in the night’s second singles, 6-2, 7-5.

Subbing an in-form Townsend back in for doubles and pairing the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion with rookie Ashlyn Krueger was captain Lindsay Davenport’s play for the no-ad, match-tiebreak decider. The American pair sparked some optimism in the third-set match tiebreak, saving six match points to nearly level at 9-all, but the comeback fell just short.

“Super, you know, up and down kind of emotionally for really everybody,” Captain Lindsay Davenport said. “I thought Taylor did a great job playing in the first match, really did what we wanted her to do, be able to win that one.

“Danielle just wasn’t feeling great out there, really struggling kind of right now with her confidence and hasn’t played tons. She almost, like, was able to flip it in the second. She got a couple of points away from winning that second set. Maybe that would have helped.

“We were dealing with some injuries with the other two, so a little bit limited on my options for doubles, hoping that, you know, the momentum of the second set would really help, but, you know, it was a slow start to the tiebreak.”

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The U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team awaits its draw for the 2025 Qualifying round, held the week of April 7, 2025. Next year’s format will see three nations play round-robin matches at one of seven qualifying sites, with the winner of each round-robin group advancing to the eight-nation Finals next year. 

The American presence returns to Malaga next week, as the U.S. Davis Cup team takes on Australia on Thursday, November 21. Captain Bob Bryan brings a squad featuring Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.