Bernard Pera photo by: Hameltion/Wikimedia Commons
Hailey Baptiste and Bernarda Pera both won their Billie Jean King Cup debuts to lead the United States past Denmark, 3-0, on Saturday in Bratislava to set up a decisive Qualifying tie vs. hosts Slovakia on Sunday with a trip to the 2025 Finals on the line.
The American team will look to beat Slovakia for the first time in three tries and avenge the two nations’ most recent meeting, in which Slovakia narrowly eliminated the U.S. from the 2024 Finals in a third-set doubles tiebreak.
Tomorrow’s winner qualifies for the eight-nation Finals held September 16-21 in Shenzhen, China. Italy, China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Spain have all already qualified. Tomorrow’s loser competes next in the Playoff round the week of November 10 (also round-robin format, with seven groups of three nations) in order to return to the Qualifying pool for 2026.
The full qualifying field and schedule can be found via the Billie Jean King Cup website.
USA 3, Denmark 0
Hailey Baptiste (USA) d. Rebecca Munk Mortensen (DEN), 6-1, 6-4; Scorecard
Bernarda Pera (USA) d. Johanne Svendsen (DEN), 6-3, 6-1; Scorecard
Desirae Krawczyk/Asia Muhammad (USA) d. Laura Brunkel/Emilie Francati (DEN), 6-4, 6-1