Underdogs Slovakia pulled off a stunning 2-1 win over the United States at the Billie Jean King Cup in Prague on Tuesday.
Even though the U.S. had to make do without the services of their top-four players, Danielle Collins and Shelby Rogers had been expected to steer the 18-times champions to victory considering the highest ranked player in the Slovakian camp was world number 83 Anna Karolína Schmiedlova.
However, after the two teams split the singles matches, the Slovak pairing of Viktoria Kuzmova and Tereza Mihalikova displayed nerves of steel to beat Caroline Dolehide and Coco Vandeweghe in the doubles 6-2 6-7(5) 12-10.
The Americans will have to beat Group C rivals Spain to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals.
Earlier in the day Australian Daria Gavrilova felt like she had finally been set free when she marked her return to competitive action with a 6-4 1-6 6-4 win over Belgian Greet Minnen. It was 27-year-old’s first professional match since the Australian Open in February.
The former world number 20 has dropped down to 412th in the rankings after spending most of 2021 locked down in Melbourne due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while undergoing rehabilitation after an Achilles surgery.
“I think I’m probably here with the most motivation out of anyone here in Prague, because I haven’t played a match since February and everyone has had a long year," Gavrilova told reporters.
“I was like caged in Melbourne and was like ‘let’s go I want to play, I want to play’. I was really excited and I probably never had this much motivation in my life."
In the absence of world number one Ash Barty, who pulled out of the event due to COVID-19 restrictions in Australia and to prepare for the next season, the 2019 runner-ups heavily depended on the 43rd-ranked Ajla Tomljanovic in Prague.
But with Tomljanovic forced to pull out from Tuesday’s tie due to illness, the opportunity fell on Gavrilova to play the opening singles against Minnen, who came into the contest having won her singles rubber on Monday against Belarus.
The Russian-born Gavrilova did not disappoint.
“It was a really hard decision for our captain and the coaching team to make," she said. “I think because they trusted and picked me and I had the belief, it all paid off.
“I’m feeling pretty exhausted. It’s been a long process to get here. I’m really happy and I’m sure that the reason why I won was because of all the work that I’ve done but also because of my team."
Germany crashed out of the competition following their second defeat in Group D. They were beaten 3-0 by Switzerland.
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