Belgium, Slovakia move to the 2020 Fed Cup Finals in Budapest

Already 7 out of 12 participants of the 2020 Fed Cup Finals were known after victories of Spain, Switzerland, and Germany. Another team that wanted to join them was Belgium led by Elise Mertens and Kirsten Flipkens.

On day 1, Mertens turned the match against Diyas when she lost the first set 1-6. But then the Belgian managed to win 6-2, 6-1 in the next two. The captain of Belgium, Johan van Herck played no. 3 player according to WTA Ranking in the second matchup.

However, this gamble was not really successful. Ysaline Bonaventure lost to Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-7, 2-6. On the second day, it was Elise Mertens once again who gave Belgium lead after defeating Yulia Putintseva. For the second singles match of the day, the captain decided to nominate Kirsten Flipkens. This was a good move as no. 2 of the team of Belgium had no problems against Zarina Diyas when she won 6-3, 6-4. Belgians added their names on the Fed Cup Finals line-up as an 8th qualified country.

Slovakia and the 8th seeded Great Britain wanted to be the 9th country to qualify for the Fed Cup Finals. Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Viktoria Kuzmova were star names of the first day in AXA Arena. Schmiedlova coped with Watson when she managed to win 6-2, 6-3. Kuzmova outplayed Dart in almost 3-hour battle 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Because Kuzmova was not feeling well after the marathon match played on day 1, captain Matej Liptak had to play no. 5 on the list, Rebecca Sramkova. The Slovak played against Heather Watson. Watson used her chance when she outplayed Sramkova in 77 minutes 6-0, 7-5.

However, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova was there to save the day for Slovaks again. She managed to get her second win of the tie, defeating Harriet Dart 7-5, 6-3.