AAP Tennis

Doubles delight drives US into Cup semi-finals

By AAP Newswire

Sep 18, 2025

Taylor Townsend and Jessica Pegula. — Taylor Townsend and Jessica Pegula won the doubles to guide the US into the BJK Cup semi-finals. -AP

Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend sent the United States into the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2021 after a 2-1 win over Kazakhstan.

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

In the singles, Emma Navarro defeated Putintseva 7-5 2-6 7-6 (8-6), before Rybakina evened the quarter-final by dispatching Pegula 6-4 6-1.

Townsend, a two-time major doubles champion, created some controversy this week in comments about Chinese food.

Japan and Britain clash in the late quarter-final on Thursday to determine who will face the US in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In the other half of the draw, Ukraine face defending champions Italy in the semi-finals 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 hosts China to secure their semi-final berth.

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