Slovakia will contest the Billie Jean King Cup Final for the first time in 22 years after beating Great Britain 2-1 in Tuesday's semifinals.

For the second time in three ties in Malaga, the Slovaks came from a 1-0 deficit and won the tie on the strength of victory by Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova in doubles -- this time, defeating Mihalikova's Hologic WTA Tour doubles partner Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson 6-2, 6-2.

Hruncakova and Mihalikova's match rhythm -- they delivered a 2-1 win for Slovakia over the U.S. in the opening round in a dramatic match tiebreak -- was evident against a British team that hadn't yet set foot on court together in Malaga.

The eventual winners raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, and outside of a hold of serve for Nicholls and Watson to start set two, never trailed in a match that lasted just 73 minutes. 

To send the tie the distance following Emma Raducanu's opening 6-4, 6-4 victory against Hruncakova, the in-form Rebecca Sramkova continued her torrid fourth quarter with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback over Katie Boulter in a battle of the tie's top players. 
 
Neither Sramkova nor Boulter had lost a set in two previous rubbers, and Sramkova was the first to give ground on that front. Boulter delivered a near-flawless opener, slamming 14 winners to Sramkova's five, and seemed on the way to sealing a British victory as she broke again in the first game of the second set.

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However, Sramkova -- who has reached her first three WTA finals in the past three months, winning the title in Hua Hin -- roared back. She jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and 3-1 in the third, then held her nerve after Boulter pegged her back both times. The Sramkova backhand proved her money shot as she came through after 2 hours and 11 minutes.

"She was playing amazing in the first set," said Sramkova. "It was tough for me to play rallies, to do anything I want. I was trying to push her more, and it was impossible in the first set. I'm happy that I was pushing more in the second and third."

Despite the defeat for Great Britain, Raducanu continued her impressive return from a foot injury by notching her third straight-sets win of the week, 6-4, 6-4 over Hruncakova. 
 
The former US Open champion raced out to hefty leads of 5-1 in the first set and 5-2 in the second. She wavered closing both out at the first time of asking -- while No.238-ranked Hruncakova's firepower was most effective with her back to the wall -- but with the insurance break in hand, made no mistake the second time around.
 
"My opponent has a huge ball strike and despite her ranking, she plays much above that," said Raducanu. "I was really pleased with how I composed myself and served it out in both sets."

Slovakia will face four-time Billie Jean King Cup champions Italy, which defeated Poland in the other semifinal that was payed on Monday.