Bratislava (Slovakia), Apr 14 (AP) Hailey Baptiste and Bernarda Pera had straight-set wins to give the United States a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with a 2-1 victory over host Slovakia.

Baptiste beat Renata Jamrichova 6-3, 6-4 and Pera overcame Slovakian No. 1 Rebecca Sramkova 7-6 (2), 7-5 in the Group C match.

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“Honestly, I'm so overwhelmed by the emotions, so happy,” Pera said. "I had so much fun with the team, the girls are amazing, I got so much support from all of them and I'm super happy.”

The U.S., which beat Denmark 3-0 on Saturday, topped Group C.

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Japan advancesEna Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama defeated Canadians Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino 6-3, 5-7 6-2 in the decisive doubles match in Group A to secure Japan a spot in the finals.

Canada had taken a 1-0 lead when Victoria Mboko defeated Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-5. Japan evened the tie with Moyuka Uchijima beating Marina Stakusic 6-3, 6-3 in the second singles.

“I'm really happy that I got the doubles done today,” Shibahara said.

The BJK Cup Finals will be played in Shenzhen in September, when Japan will be making its second consecutive finals appearance and will try to match its best-ever performance. It reached the semifinals in 1996. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)