Romania leads Ukraine 1-0, after tennis player Ana Bogdan was defeated by Lesia Ţurenko in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, on Friday, in the first singles match of the meeting from Fernandina Beach (Florida), from the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers.
Ana Bogdan. Photo: Getty Images
Ţurenko (34 years old, 42 WTA) won after two hours of play.
Ana Bogdan (31 years old, 64 WTA) played a good first set, winning 6-3, but then she was dominated more and more clearly by her opponent. The Romanian had more direct winning balls, 19-18, but also committed more unforced errors in this match, 39-29.
Ţurenko had won both direct matches with Ana Bogdan, 6-1, 6-0 in 2011, in the first round in Istanbul (ITF), and 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (20/18) in 2023, in the third round at Wimbledon.
Bogdan will play Svitolina on Saturday
In the second singles match on Friday, Jaqueline Cristian (25 years old, 75 WTA) will meet Elina Svitolina (29 years old, 18 WTA) for the first time.
On Saturday (19:00, Romanian time), in the third singles match, Ana Bogdan will face Svitolina, another first-ever match, and the last singles duel will be between Jaqueline Cristian and Lesia Ţurenko. The only direct match between them was won by the Ukrainian, in 2021, in the quarterfinals in Linz, with 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
The doubles match will oppose the twins Liudmila and Nadia Kicenok and the young Mara Gae/Anca Todoni.
The non-playing captain of the Romanian team, Horia Tecău, called for this match Ana Bogdan (64 WTA singles, 318 WTA doubles), Jaqueline Cristian (75 WTA singles, 215 WTA doubles), Anca Todoni (191 WTA in singles, 724 WTA in doubles), Mara Gae (1,062 WTA in singles), as well as Simona Halep, who retired in the meantime due to an injury.
The Ukrainian team, whose non-playing captain is Mihail Filima, includes Elina Svitolina (18 WTA singles), Lesia Turenko (42 WTA singles), Iulia Starodubtseva (138 WTA doubles, 146 WTA doubles), Liudmila Kicenok (18 WTA doubles), Nadia Kicenok (42 WTA doubles).
The Romanians lead 3-1 in the meetings with Ukraine
The match against Ukraine, from the BJK Cup qualifiers, will take place on April 12 and 13, at Racquet Park Drive in Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach (Florida/USA).
Romania and Ukraine have met four times so far, and the tricolors lead 3-1. In 1997, Romania prevailed 3-0, in Bari (Italy), in Group B of the Europe/Africa zone. In 1999, Romania won 2-0, in Spain (Murcia), in the Europe/Africa play-off. Ukraine's only victory dates back to 2003, when they won 2-1 in Estoril (Portugal), in Group C of the Europe/Africa zone.
The last duel took place in 2014, in Budapest, Romania winning 2-0, in the Europe/Africa promotion bracket.
In November, Romania beat Serbia 4-0, in Kraljevo, in the play-off to stay in the World Group of the competition, while Ukraine beat Lithuania 3-1, in Vilnius.
