Spain did not give room for surprise. Anabel Medina’s team needed a victory in the three games they could play on Saturday and they got it the first time. Nuria Párrizas, the Spanish number one, clearly defeated Marcela Zacarías (6-3 and 6-0) and qualified Spain for the next Billie Jean King Cup Finals to be held in November.
The woman from Granada, who beat Renata Zarazúa in two sets on Friday, but with more than thirty unforced errors, refined much more against Zacarías, the Mexican captain’s emergency solution, who removed Fernanda Contreras from the team after the player fell on the the previous day for a double 6-0 against Sara Sorribes.
However, Zacarías’ option did not solve Mexico’s problems either. In fact, the world number 196 delivered her first two serves and started 5-0 down to Párrizas, who sighted another scandalous result. But the Mexican resurrected saving three balls from 6-0 and rowed until 5-3. There she again squeezed the Spanish, who needed another three set balls to score the first round and accelerate towards the match.
Párrizas inflicted a 6-0 run on Zacarías in just over 20 minutes, dropping just five points in the entire set, and sent Spain on course for the final phase of the world’s most prestigious team competition.
From November 7 to 12
Spain will know in the coming months its two rivals in the group stage, as well as the venue for it. The tournament will be held from November 7 to 12 and Anabel Medina’s girls will fight for the sixth title in their showcases, after those won in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998, under the leadership of Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez.
Australia and Switzerland are already among the twelve classified for this year’s edition, with the band of runner-up and champion, respectively, while Kazakhstan, like Spain, has made it through the ‘playoff’. There are seven other places at stake that will be decided this Sunday, together with an invitation that will be delivered to participate in the final phase of the event.