Tennis-Kazakhstan book BJK Cup Finals spot with win over Colombia

April 11 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan became the first team to secure their place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after a 3-0 win over Colombia, with Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva both comfortably winning their singles matches on Friday.

A day after the Kazakhs cruised past Australia in Brisbane, Putintseva got the ball rolling again for her country by mowing down Colombian debutant Valentina Mediorreal Arias 6-0 6-1 for her 22nd singles win in the premier women's team event.

World number 10 Rybakina was equally dominant in her clash with Yuliana Lizarazo, winning five out of seven break points to secure a 6-1 6-2 win and book her nation a spot in the knockout stages for the third time.

"We have a really good team and I'm super happy to get the win. I'm looking forward to the Finals, we're really glad to be in it," said Rybakina.

Zarina Diyas and Zhibek Kulambayeva then overcame Lizarazo and Maria Paulina Perez-Garcia 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the doubles match to complete the whitewash.

The result ended seven-times champions Australia's hopes of advancing from Group D, with only the winners of the six round-robin groups of three going through to the Finals to be held in Shenzhen in September.

Kazakhstan will join hosts China and reigning champions Italy in the Finals while Poland failed to secure automatic qualification after losing 3-0 to Ukraine.

The Poles will now await the result of the final Group E match between Ukraine and Switzerland in Radom on Saturday.

Canada got off to a flying start in Group A in Tokyo with a 3-0 win over Romania, bolstered by strong performances from Victoria Mboko and Marina Stakusic.

Slovakia also got off to a good start with a 3-0 win over Denmark in Group C in Bratislava.

In Group F in The Hague, Britain secured a 2-1 win over Germany, who suffered their second defeat and are out of the competition. Britain and the Netherlands will battle it out for top spot in the group on Saturday.

Brazil also crashed out after losing 3-0 to Spain in Group B in Ostrava, their second defeat of the tournament following a 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic.