Putintseva breaks Kazakh record with upset over Kerber

Yulia Putintseva won a record 15th Billie Jean King Cup singles match for Kazakhstan with a comeback victory over world No. 17 Angelique Kerber that set the home side on their way to a shock 2-0 lead over Germany in Nur-Sultan.

Putintseva’s battling 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory in one-hour and 48 minutes preceded an emphatic 6-0 6-1 triumph for world No. 19 Elena Rybakina over Laura Siegemund and leaves the home side firmly in command of their Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier after the opening day.

One more victory will guarantee Kazakhstan’s surprise inclusion in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November - the women's world cup of tennis - and piles the pressure on Kerber, who will tackle the Kazakh No. 1 in the tie’s showpiece encounter on Saturday.

“It was a tough match,” admitted three-time Grand Slam champion Kerber. “I played well in the first set and then she came back and was playing better and better.

"For me it’s always to play the first matches on clay. It’s not my favourite surface so I really tried to give my best, and to come here play for my country, play for Germany, which I always love to play. I always give my best.

“Of course I’m a little bit disappointed about that, that I couldn’t win the point, but we still have tomorrow and hopefully we’ll have a better day tomorrow.”

Rybakina made the most of Kazakhstan's unexpected advantage and proved ruthless against Siegemund, who, though still lacking singles match practice following a knee injury that kept her away from the game for several months, insisted she didn't feel rusty on court.

"I felt really good physically and mentally today, even though the score doesn’t show that at all," Siegemund said. "I felt like the first set ran away completely. She played unbelievable. The second set was much closer – there were a lot of close games, but they didn’t go my way.

"Overall it’s not the result we wanted, or I wanted, but I did what I could. I have to look for tomorrow now, forget this and look forward."

Rybakina may have been untouchable, but it was Putintseva's win that truly put the Germans on the back foot.

After a fine start from Kerber, the world No. 52 dug in to record her best victory since she overcame teammate and then-world No. 16 Rybakina at Indian Wells last year.

"At the end of the first set, I was already thinking I would [attack], at least to feel some blows," said Putintseva. "And then somehow I felt better and better. I found the points so that it would be uncomfortable for her to play with me, so that she would make more mistakes. I tried to move her as much as possible."

It was a historic victory for Putintseva, who made her debut for Kazakhstan in 2014, as she overtook current captain Yaroslava Shvedova and team-mate Zarina Diyas to take sole ownership of the Kazakh singles record in the Billie Jean King Cup.

It was less memorable for German captain Rainer Schuettler, whose side's hopes of a place in November's Finals are now reliant on a colossal comeback on Saturday.

"Of course a tough day today for the German team," he lamented. "It was a very close match with Angie and Putintseva. We were hoping that it would be at least 1-1, but the second match was very good from Rybakina.

"She played very good, served very well, returned very well, took the balls extremely early. It was a very good performance from her and we’ll have to win three matches tomorrow to leave as the winner."