U.S. falls to Slovakia in stunning BJK Cup Finals finish, as Danielle Collins loses singles match

The United States has been sent packing in the opening round of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Slovakia pulled off the upset with the clock approaching 1 a.m. Friday.

Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova completed the surprise victory in Malaga when they denied the comeback effort of Ashlyn Krueger Taylor Townsend to scrape by, 6-3, 3-6 [10-8]. Hruncakova and Mihalikova raced out to a 9-2 lead in the match tiebreak before the American duo fought off six match points to close the gap.

On their seventh try, the Slovaks clinched the win when Mihalikova put away an overhead off Krueger’s short return. The nation advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years and meets Australia next.

“It was not the first time that we went on the deciding doubles together. We wanted to win so, so much,” Hruncakova said on court afterwards. “We gave everything we have. I just have no words right now.”

The day began on a promising note for the U.S. contingent, as Townsend got the ball rolling with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Renata Jamrichova. Danielle Collins couldn’t follow suit though, setting up an impressive turnaround for the opposition.

The former Australian Open finalist went down to Rebecca Sramkova, 6-2, 7-5, finishing with a -15 differential after spraying 29 unforced errors. Sramkova went six for eight on her break point chances and was much cleaner with a 20 winners to 16 unforced errors ratio.

Townsend arrived on the back of finishing runner-up in doubles at the WTA Finals with Katerina Siniakova. The U.S. last hoisted the trophy in 2017.