Collins and Stephens blast ruthless USA into Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals

Whether fuelled by their agonising defeat to Slovakia, inspired by the watching Billie Jean King or a just a sheer desire to be in the mix for silverware, USA are edging closer to the podium summit once more.

By ruthlessly dispatching Spain, 18-time tournament winners USA reached the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas semi-finals for the third time in four seasons. They will now face the Russian Tennis Federation on Friday for a place in the final.

Spain were simply brushed aside, particularly in the tie’s second match as world No. 30 Danielle Collins dismantled Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-1 6-0, which built upon Sloane Stephens’s earlier victory against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz.

This was enough for USA to reach the last four, with Spain restoring some pride in the doubles as Aliona Bolsova and Rebeka Masarova defeated CoCo Vandeweghe and rookie Caroline Dolehide.

Following their painful loss to Slovakia 24 hours earlier, there was scope for this to be a nerve-racking and ultimately fruitless evening for USA, although in the end it was rather routine as five-time winners Spain failed to fire.

USA’s last Billie Jean King Cup title came in 2017, while a year later they succumbed to a harrowing defeat against hosts Czech Republic here at Prague's O2 Arena. Collins was in the American ranks that weekend and is now eyeing a fresh insert in the nation’s trophy-winning manual.

“Our desire to do well is from the time we landed in Prague,” said Collins. “We want to win this and now it is a little bit closer. We are good at playing under pressure and have experience of dealing with tough situations on court. We handle those moments well.”

Present for both singles matches was Billie Jean King herself, the eponymous heroine of the competition, and both Stephens and Collins acknowledged the significance of her presence and the impact it had.

“Having the person the event is named after watching you is incredible,” said Stephens. “Just for our country, having Billie here is amazing and she has inspired us all. I am happy that she is here and I hope we can keep going so she can see some more of our matches.”

Collins echoed those sentiments. She said: “It is super inspiring. It is a really great thing, her in the crowd today supporting us. I know it means the world to everyone on the team.”

This was the first Billie Jean King Cup contest between these tournament heavyweights in 21 years and the Americans were looking to improve on their 5-4 head-to-head record against Spain.

Both were pushed to the limit in their opening ties by Slovakia, but while Spain edged past the Slovaks in the match tiebreak of a decisive doubles clash, USA succumbed to defeat in similar circumstances.

Those results made for an incredibly tight group, although Spain had a clear advantage heading into this evening’s showdown: win and they would top Group C and advance to the last four.

For USA, a 3-0 whitewash would see them progress to the semi-finals, while the calculator would be required if they surged into a 2-0 lead. That is exactly what happened and, in the end, the heroics of Stephens and Collins proved sufficient.

For Stephens, it was her first taste of action at the Finals as both captains made a change from their first tie for their opening singles bout, with debutant Parrizas-Diaz brought in for Spain.

If USA required a bright start to ease any tension then Stephens provided it, winning the opening seven points and registering an early break of serve. However, Parrizas-Diaz hit back immediately to level at 2-2.

There is very little between the players in terms of world ranking, with Parrizas-Diaz three places lower at No. 66, and this proximity was evident on court as the pair traded blows until Stephens broke to take a 5-3 lead.

Granada-born Parrizas-Diaz broke straight back, but then failed to hold as Stephens claimed the opening set 6-4. The trend of service breaks continued for a fifth game at the beginning of the second set before Stephens bucked the trend.

It was almost as if neither player wished to seize control of proceedings as five more service breaks came and went, which ultimately paved the way for Floridian Stephens to power home 6-4 6-3 and secure a valuable point for her nation.

“Finding out an hour before who you play is tough and I was honestly just watching Youtube videos of her [Parrizas-Diaz] before the match because I had never seen her play,” said Stephens.

“This was definitely a wild card as I didn’t know her game style or know how she played. She doesn’t play like a typical Spaniard and is not a grinder, so it was a little bit difficult.

“But when playing for your country you have to get out there and compete. I was trying to figure it out as I went along and I did just that. I was really happy to get a point on the board for the team and start today off strong because we needed it.”

Stephens, a Grand Slam winner at the US Open in 2017, reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world in July 2018, although she is no longer in the Top-50. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old believes she is firmly on the road to recovery.

“I am really happy with where my tennis is at currently,” she added. “When I left Australia this year, I was determined to get back on track and figure out if I really wanted to play tennis and if I was willing to work hard and take the steps I needed to.

“I said it very early on in the season that the results probably wouldn’t come straight away but, as long as I kept working, I would have a good chance of getting back to where I want to be and winning titles again. I feel that is the direction that I am heading.

“Winning tough matches like today can only be a step in the right direction.”

The USA’s semi-final quest continued with Collins as she drew swords with Sorribes Tormo, the star of Spain’s victory against Slovakia on Monday as she enjoyed both singles and doubles glory.

On this occasion, however, she was powerless to stem a brutal assault from Collins, who made her tournament debut during USA’s 2019 quarter-final defeat to Australia. From the moment Collins broke Sorribes Tormo to go 3-1 up in the first set, there was no stopping her.

Collins brushed aside any hint of a Sorribes Tormo recovery and stormed to a 6-1 first-set success, while the second set was even more brutal as the 27-year-old romped home with a 6-0 annihilation.

“On paper, it was as good as it could get from me today,” said Collins. “I just went out there, had my tactics and executed them perfectly. You don’t have many of these days throughout the year, so when you have them, you are so happy about them.

“For me, I was on a roll and it is hard to put into words when you have a performance like that. I had my tactics and executed them as well as I could. It could not have been any better.”

There was, however, some respite for the Spanish in the form of the doubles as Bolsova and Masarova prevailed 6-3 6-4 against Vandeweghe and Dolehide, while the evening was not quite over.

At the conclusion of the tie, there was an emotional farewell to Carla Suarez Navarro, who at the end of these Finals is bringing down the curtain on a spectacular career which has spanned nearly two decade and contained untold memories.

The Spaniard was clearly emotional as a video featuring players competing at the Finals was played on the big screen at the O2 Arena with them offering their farewells and congratulating the 33-year-old on an outstanding career.