(VIDEO) Disaster strikes for Andreescu: Canada sent tumbling out of Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers after shanked serve gifts Kazakhstan victory

Bianca Andreescu had a moment to forget in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan. At 2-1 down, she was in dire need of defeating Yulia Putintseva to stay in the match. Unfortunately, after a titanic battle, the former major champion experiences a huge miss hit on her second serve, directing it far away from its intended target and sending Kazakhstan through to the finals.

While a number of big names have opted to focus on the start of the clay swing on the WTA Tour, some have chosen to wear their country's garments for a couple of days as they look to cement their nation in the prestigious finals event taking place in Shenzhen, China.

Seven spots were available, and there were some huge casualties. 18-time champions USA fell in surprising circumstances to Belgium while Great Britain pulled off a huge victory over Australia despite being the heavy underdogs. Reigning champions Italy safely made it through while Ukraine, Czech Republic and Spain all joined the hosts China in the finals.

One place would remain, and it would be either Canada or Kazakhstan. Without their most talented players in the form of Elena Rybakina and Victoria Mboko, the contest was spread wide open with the chance to be a hero a tantalising objective.

Putintseva began with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Kayla Cross before Andreescu got a point on the board for Canada after taking down Sonja Zhiyenbayeva 6-4, 7-6(4). Five ties in total could be played out in a best of five format, but Kazakhstan were looking to wrap it up in four after their doubles triumph. Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva got the better of Andreescu and Cross 7-5, 6-1 to move 2-1 ahead, a single win from booking their tickets to the finals. Andreescu would have to defeat Putintseva to stay in the hunt, but it would all go horribly wrong.

Two very experienced foes stepped out onto the court. It would turn out to be a hotly contested match, providing a lot of entertainment and drama. Andreescu would break in the first set and even set up a set point on the Kazakh's serve. After that was not taken, she was broken by her opponent when attempting to serve it out, and would face the consequences later after falling short in a tiebreak.

She would soon be level. She went 4-2 ahead but Putintseva did well to respond immediately. However, the 2019 US Open champion managed to seize back the advantage and went on to this time successfully serve it out, forcing a third and deciding set.

Twice Andreescu broke, and twice Putintseva broke back. The Canadian looked certain to steal a march late on, mustering up four break points with the score at 5-5 but none of these were successfully converted. She had no issue forcing a deciding tiebreak.

A lot was on the line, especially for Canada. If Andreescu fails to win it, then their hopes and dreams for qualifying for the finals go up in flames. She would find herself trailing for most of it, Putintseva able to keep a slender advantage throughout the whole thing. After 3 hours and 38 minutes on court, a match point for Putintseva was up for grabs. It all came down to this, but it would turn out to be disastrous for Andreescu. With her second serve, she miss hit it terribly, seeing the ball fly to the other side of the court, harmlessly away from the intended box as Putintseva dropped to the ground delighted and exhausted after a long battle.

Canada would go out with a whimper in bizarre circumstances. Nevertheless, Kazakhstan will be making the trip to China to battle it out for the coveted title later this year.