The Netherlands and Germany faced each other in the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time since 1992 as the two teams try to clinch a spot in the women's tennis world cup.
After the Netherlands' highest-ranked tennis player, Arantxa Rus, withdrew from the squad to prioritise her singles career and a seed at the French Open, Eva Vedder was called up as her replacement. Vedder opened the qualifying tournament against Jule Niemeier, who played Emma Raducanu at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Vedder, the 265th-ranked player in the world, opened the match furiously with a break in the opening game. After Niemeier broke Vedder back in her second service game, Vedder replied with three consecutive breaks on her way to a convincing 6-3 set win.
The 25-year-old Dutchwoman continued her aggressive approach in the second set, racing to a 5-0 lead in games after starting the set with two consecutive breaks. Niemeier fended off a match point, but could not survive a second as Vedder gave the Netherlands a 1-0 lead after one hour and 24 minutes of play.
Tatjana Maria and Suzan Lamens, the 81st and 70th-ranked players, took the stage next in the Dutch city of The Hague. Local hero Lamens threatened to take an early lead on break point at 40-0, were it not for Maria to hit back with four consecutive points after breaking down Lamens' defenses and surviving three break points.
The German took the first set after breaking Lamens' third service game and taking home the second set point, but got met with a furious Lamens who stormed off to a 4-1 lead with two breaks in the second set. Lamens fended off three of four break points in the second set en route to a crucial set win, forcing a third and deciding set.
A furiously-fought fifth set saw neither player give up a game until the ninth, when Lamens forced a love break to go up 5-4. Maria replied with a break of her own before Lamens pulled a second consecutive break out of her bag en route to a 5-7 win set and victory for the Netherlands over Germany.
As all points matter in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, Demi Schuurs and Lamens took on Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund in the concluding doubles match.
Schuurs and Lamens broke their German opponents early on, but had to concede a break right after as Siegemund and Friedsam refused to go down without a fight. The two sides would exchange breaks a second time at the end of the first set, requiring a tiebreak to determine a winner. Four consecutive breaks eventually earned the Dutch team a lead they would not give up as Lamens and Schuurs broke the German duo a third time to clinch the set.
After a long second set, the Dutch duo clinched the Netherlands' third win of the day. Siegemund and Friedsam got off to the best start with a love game to break the Dutch, but would concede a break not long after. With the Germans on set point in the ninth game, Schuurs and Lamens kept fighting and ended up winning the final four games to grab the win.
Great Britain are the other team in the qualifying group. Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage, and Olivia Nicholls will feature for Team GB on Friday against Germany.