World No. 10 Elena Rivakina defeated Kimberly Biller 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to give Kazakhstan a 2-0 lead in Brisbane’s Billy Jean King Cup qualifiers 2-0 with seven-time champion Australia.
2022 Wimbledon champion Rivakina took a break early in Group D tie, but after six matches he insisted on the opening set of the serve with a massive ace.
Billrell took a 5-1 lead in the second set, but wasted set points and Rivakina returned with a ferocious shot-making to secure the victory in a tiebreak.
“It was a very difficult match,” said Rybakina, who won her eighth singles matches since her debut in the 2021 competition.
Previously, Yulia Putintseva defeated Maya Joint 6-2, 6-1 at Pat Rafter Arena, giving Kazakhstan an early lead in the best of three match contest.
The team is split into three round-robin groups of qualifiers this year, with recipients joining host China and 2024 champion Italy in the final at Shenzhen towards the end of the season.
The Czech Republic meets Brazil at Group B in Ostrava late Thursday, with Poland hosting Germany in Switzerland and the Netherlands in Group F in The Hague.
Poland will take place without French Open Champion Iga Swiatek after World No. 2 chose to skip their group relationship to focus on her training ahead of the clay court season.
Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins were among the trio of the trio withdrawing from the US team for the three-day qualifiers.
Reuters contributed to this report.