SHENZHEN, China — Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend sent the United States into the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals for the first time since 2021 after beating Kazakhstan 2-1 on Thursday.
Pegula and Townsend topped Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-6 (1) in the deciding doubles.
In singles, Emma Navarro defeated Putintseva 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6) and Rybakina evened the quarterfinal by dispatching Pegula 6-4, 6-1.
Townsend, a two-time major doubles champion, created some controversy this week with her comments about Chinese food for which she later apologized.
The U.S. will play Japan or Britain in the semifinals Saturday. Japan and Britain play their quarterfinal later Thursday.
In the other half of the draw, Ukraine faces defending champion Italy in the semifinals Friday. Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina won singles matches over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Paula Badosa, respectively, to put Ukraine through to the final four. Italy beat host China.
The BJK Cup was formerly known as the Fed Cup. The United States is the most successful team as an 18-time winner but has not held the title since 2017.
