US and Britain set up Billie Jean King Cup semifinal

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SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend sent the United States into the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals for the first time since 2021 after beating Kazakhstan 2-1 on Thursday.

Pegula and Townsend topped Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-6 (1) in the deciding doubles.

In singles, Emma Navarro stunned Putintseva 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6) after saving two match points. Putintseva led 6-4 in the tiebreak but Navarro took the last four points after 2 1/2 hours.

Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina evened the quarterfinal by dispatching Pegula 6-4, 6-1 in a top-10 clash.

Pegula brushed off her first loss to Rybakina in 2 1/2 years by pairing with Townsend, the world doubles No. 1 and two-time major doubles champion, who created some controversy this week in comments about Chinese food.

Townsend dominated the first set and the U.S. pair strode through the second set tiebreak, winning on a Rybakina double fault.

“I wanted to kind of redeem myself a little bit out there against her (Rybakina), try and help my team get a win,” Pegula said.

The U.S. will play Britain in the semifinals on Saturday.

Britain beat Japan after winning both singles in straight sets in their quarterfinal.

Sonay Kartal overcame Ena Shibahara 6-3, 7-6 (4). Shibahara had a break point for 5-4 in the second set and led 3-1 in the tiebreak. Katie Boulter clinched the tie by defeating Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 6-1 in their first career matchup.

In the other half of the draw, Ukraine faces defending champion Italy in the semifinals on Friday. Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina won singles matches over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Paula Badosa, respectively, to put Ukraine through to the final four. Italy beat host China.

The BJK Cup was formerly known as the Fed Cup, and the United States is the most successful team as an 18-time winner, but not since 2017.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis