Carle stuns Rybakina to draw Argentina level in Cordoba

Argentina and Kazakhstan finished an oppressively hot Friday 1-1 in the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Play-offs to set up what is sure to be an exciting final day’s play in Cordoba.

In the first match, Argentina No. 1 Nadia Podoroska fell to Yulia Putintseva 2-6 6-4 6-0 (the home player led 3-1 in the second set); and then Lourdes Carle picked up the biggest win of her career by overcoming Elena Rybakina 6-4 3-6 6-0.

This Saturday, at 10:30 local time, sees the reverse singles (Podoroska v Rybakina followed by Carle v Putintseva) ahead of the doubles.

Once more, as is so often the case in Billie Jean King Cup or Davis Cup, ranking meant nothing in the contest between Rybakina and Carle, with the Argentine ranked some 407 places lower than her Kazakh opponent.

And yet Carle finished having a “huge upset” on an afternoon full of sunshine.

“Never before have I had a feeling like this on a tennis court, not once in my life,” explained Carle. “Today was a perfect match and I think my forehand and, at times, my serve were the best they have ever been on a court.”

At 3-0 in the final set, when Rybakina was receiving medical treatment to the point where she was in visible pain, the Argentine captain Mercedes Paz told BillieJeanKingCup.com that “she had to remain focussed on her own game, without forgetting what she did to win the first set.”

In the opening match there were two versions of Podoroska on the court – that which was solid on the drive and the backhand side and that which lost confidence mid-way through the second set, especially on serve.

Podoroska lost 10 games in a row and in so doing made life very difficult for herself against Putintseva, who began to hit deeper and hit drop shots, which hurt her opponent, figuratively if not physically.

And so it was that Podoroska led 6-2 3-1 and ended up losing 2-6 6-4 6-0…

“Half-way through the second set the match fell into place for me,” said Putintseva. “I made some changes to my game that made things difficult for my opponent.”

Meanwhile Podoroska admitted to feeling nervous and ended up devastated because she “had a moment of not playing with intensity”.