BRISBANE: Elena Rybakina showcased her prowess to beat Kimberly Birrell 6-3 7-6(4) as Kazakhstan secured a 2-1 win over Australia in their Billie Jean King Cup Group D qualifier in Brisbane on Thursday.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, went down an early break but cranked up her powerful forehand and drew level after six games before claiming the opening set with an ace.

Birrell raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set but squandered a set point and Rybakina clawed her way back with some ferocious shot-making to clinch victory in the tiebreak.

“It was such a difficult match,” said Rybakina, who secured her eighth victory in 10 singles matches since her debut in the competition in 2021.

“I’m super happy to bring the win for the team ... it’s always nice to be back in Australia.”

Earlier at the Pat Rafter Arena, Yulia Putintseva gave Kazakhstan an early lead with a 6-2 6-1 win over debutant Maya Joint.

However, Australia’s Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez claimed the third match of the night with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva in the doubles.

Czech Republic beat Brazil 2-1 in Ostrava in Group B, while the Netherlands cruised past Germany 3-0 in The Hague in Group F.

Poland, without French Open champion Iga Swiatek after the world No. 2 opted to skip their Group E ties to focus on her training ahead of the clay season, beat Switzerland 3-0 in Radom.

Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins were among a trio of players to withdraw from the US team, which plays Denmark on Saturday in Group C, for the three-day qualifiers.

Teams have been divided into six round-robin groups of three in the qualifiers this year with the winners joining hosts China and 2024 champions Italy at the Finals in Shenzhen toward the end of the season.

MONACO: Novak Djokovic’s latest bid to win a 100th career title ended in another upset defeat to a familiar face.

Alejandro Tabilo, who handed the 24-time Grand Slam champion a surprising loss at the Italian Open last year, beat Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Back on clay for the first time since winning the Olympic gold in Paris last August, Djokovic said he didn’t have high expectations going into the match.

“I knew I’m going to have a tough opponent and I knew I’m going to probably play pretty bad,” Djokovic said. “But this bad, I didn’t expect.”

Djokovic, who recently lost the Miami Open final to Jakub Mensik, turns 38 next month — shortly before the French Open starts on May 25.

French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz started his clay-court season by rallying for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Francisco Cerundolo.

The second-seeded Alcaraz was coming off a surprising loss to Belgian veteran David Goffin in his first match at the Miami Open.

Another upset seemed possible when Cerundolo, ranked No. 22, took the first set but Alcaraz dominated the rest of the match and converted five of his seven break points across the second and third sets.

Alcaraz is seeking a second title of 2025 and to finetune his clay-court game ahead of a bid to retain his title at Roland Garros starting next month.

Tabilo clinched victory on his second match point when Djokovic hit a service return too long.

Djokovic had saved one match point in the ninth game when he was trailing 5-3 and 30-40 on his serve, producing a neat drop shot over the net which his Chilean opponent couldn’t reach.

Other results

No. 13 Lorenzo Musetti beat Jiri Lehecka 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to set up a last-16 match against fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini, who beat top-seeded Alexander Zverev on Tuesday.

Daniil Medvedev overcame Alexandre Muller 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Casper Ruud beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-1.

Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, a pair of 38-year-old Frenchman, were eliminated by Daniel Altmaier and seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev, respectively.

The Monte Carlo Masters is the first big clay-court tournament of the year on the ATP Tour.