Japan rallies to beat Romania, reach quarterfinals of Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Japan reached the quarterfinals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals for the first time since 2013 after rallying to defeat Romania 2-1 on Thursday in Malaga, Spain.

Japan advanced when Eri Hozumi and Shuko Aoyama defeated Monica Niculescu and Elena Ruse 6-1, 7-5 in the deciding doubles match.

Ana Bogdan had put Romania ahead with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Nao Hibino in the first singles match of the day but Ena Shibahara pulled Japan level with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over Jaqueline Cristian.

Japan will face Italy in the quarterfinals. The United States faced Slovakia later Thursday for a place in the last eight.

Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada's five-player lineup this week when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Canada will look to become the first team since the Czech Republic in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

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The Canadians, who received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play Great Britain or Germany this Sunday at Martin Carpena Arena. 

The first match between Japan and Romania had been moved back two hours because of a severe weather alert that was in effect in the Malaga region until early in the day. The weather alert had already forced the opening meeting between Spain and Poland to be pushed back from Wednesday to Friday, when Germany is also facing Britain.

The Billie Jean King Cup Finals is taking place about two weeks after a powerful storm caused flash floods that killed more than 200 people in the Valencia region, east of Malaga.

The International Tennis Federation