Nao Hibino completed Japan's 3-0 win over Kazakhstan in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier Saturday, clinching her country's place in the finals of the team tennis event.
Hibino outlasted Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) to give the Naomi Osaka-led Japan an insurmountable lead in the best-of-five indoor hardcourt tie at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum.
Hibino, ranked 79th in the world, saved four match points in the third-set tiebreak against her 50th-ranked opponent.
The 12-team finals will be played in November in Seville, Spain.
Hibino and Osaka gave Japan a 2-0 lead on Friday with respective straight-sets wins.
