In a tie that went down to the wire, 2002 champions Slovakia squeaked past 18-time titlists United States to reach the quarterfinals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain. Slovakia posted a 2-1 victory after narrowly winning the doubles match on Thursday.

The teams split the singles matches to start the showdown. The United States’ Taylor Townsend defeated Renata Jamrichova 7-5, 6-4, and Slovakia countered with a 6-2, 7-5 win by Rebecca Sramkova over Danielle Collins.

In the decisive doubles match, Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova held on for a 6-3, 3-6, [10-8] win over Ashlyn Krueger and Townsend. The Americans went from 9-2 down to 9-8 in the match-tiebreak, but Slovakia prevailed just before midnight local time.

Slovakia advances to face Australia in the quarterfinals. The No.4-seeded Aussies, who received a bye into the elite eight, are seven-time Billie Jean King Cup champions, but they haven’t won the title since 1974.

The opening match of the tie was a clash between two left-handers who have both been ranked World No.1 in juniors. Townsend was the top-ranked junior back in 2012, while 17-year-old Jamrichova held that position earlier this year.

In the back-and-forth first set, Jamrichova battled from 4-2 down and was a point away from a 6-5 lead. However, Townsend drew errors from the teenager to squeak out that game, then forced a return error on set point to garner the opening frame.

A drop volley winner gave Townsend the only break of the second set at 2-1. Jamrichova continued to fight, holding four break points on Townsend’s serve at 4-3 and another at 5-4, but Townsend erased all of those chances, sealing the win with her fourth ace of the day.

It was a milestone victory for Townsend, who was playing her first-ever singles match at the Billie Jean King Cup.

Slovakia, though, turned the tie around with Sramkova’s ouster of Collins. It was Collins’ first match Guadalajara in September, having missed the entire Asian swing with illness, and she was seeking her first win since the Olympics.

During that same timeframe, Sramkova became one of the hottest players on tour. The 28-year-old has won 18 of her last 22 matches, reached three WTA singles finals, won her maiden WTA title at Hua Hin #2 and has raised her ranking from No.136 to a career-high No.43.

Sramkova continued that form in Malaga, saving both of the break points she faced in the first set, then breaking Collins at love at 5-5 in the second set to take charge. Sramkova needed only one match point to upset the World No.11 and notch the third Top 20 win of her career.

It came down to the doubles, and Slovakia’s good omen was that this exact team of Hruncakova and Mihalikova had beaten an American squad at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in 2021.

Hruncakova and Mihalikova started off strong again, breaking Krueger in the first game and the last game of the opening set. But the Americans rebounded in the second set, and Townsend picked off a volley winner on set point to line up the match-tiebreak.

In the breaker, big hitting by the Slovaks gave them a 9-2 lead and seven consecutive match points. The U.S. squad methodically erased the first six to keep their hopes alive, but on the seventh, a big Hruncakova serve was backed up by a winning Mihalikova overhead to clinch the win.