LONDON (AP) — Grand Slam title winners

Naomi Osaka

,

Iga Swiatek

and

Emma Raducanu

all earned victories for their countries in

Billie Jean King Cup

qualifying Friday.

Osaka hit 15 aces and put Japan a step away from reaching the BJK Cup Finals with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva. It was the four-time

Grand Slam champion's

first match

in the team competition

since February 2020.

Osaka, back on tour

after becoming a mother

last July, saved all three break points she faced and compiled a 31-16 edge in winners. Her win on an indoor hard court in Tokyo followed Nao Hibino's 6-1, 6-0 victory over Anna Danilina and gave Japan a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five-match qualifying round.

Two other singles matches and one in doubles are scheduled for Saturday.

A total of 16 nations are involved in qualifiers Friday and Saturday, with the winners advancing to the 12-team Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville, Spain, in November. Those eight teams will join defending champion Canada, 2023 runner-up Italy, host Spain and wild-card selection Czech Republic in the Finals field.

In other action Friday, No. 1-ranked Swiatek and Poland went ahead 2-0 at Switzerland, 2021 U.S. Open champion Raducanu helped Britain finish Day 1 tied 1-1 at France, host Australia took a 2-0 lead over Mexico, and Slovakia was up 2-0 against visiting Slovenia.

The other matchups are: Belgium at the United States in Orlando; Ukraine against Romania at Amelia Island, Florida; and Germany at Brazil.

In Biel, Switzerland, Swiatek — who has won three championships at the French Open and one at the U.S. Open — broke Simona Waltert five times on an indoor hard court to win 6-3, 6-1, before Magdalena Frech came back to beat Celine Naef 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-3.

In Le Portel, France, Raducanu was a set and a break down but reeled off 12 of the next 15 games to get past Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on an indoor red clay court. That pulled Britain even after France's Diane Parry defeated Katie Boulter 6-2, 6-0.

In Brisbane, where 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur is Australia's captain for the first time, Arina Rodionova beat Mexico's Giuliana Olmos 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Daria Saville defeated Marcela Zacarias 6-1, 6-0 for the hosts on an outdoor hard court. Australia, the runner-up twice in the last five years, is seeking its first title since 1974.

In Bratislava on an indoor hard court, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova topped Ela Nala Milic 6-4, 6-3, and Viktoria Hruncakova won 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 against Veronika Erjaveck.

___

AP tennis:

https://apnews.com/hub/tennis