Billie Jean King Cup: Italy defeat Poland to reach final
Jasmine Paolini’s Italy beat Poland 2-1 to reach a second consecutive Billie Jean Gold Cup final, with five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek offering a glimmer of hope .
World No. 4 Paolini and her teammate Sara Errani beat Swiatek and Katarzyna Kava 7-5 7-5 in Malaga after a superb second-set comeback to win. A decisive victory in doubles.
Twelve months ago, four-time champions Italy were defeated by Canada in the Beijing Cup final.
They will find out their opponents for the 2024 final on Tuesday, when Great Britain take on Slovakia in the second semi-final (11:00 GMT).
“Today was tough,” Paolini, 28, said. “The intensity is crazy.
“You have to give everything for Italy, for my team. I found the energy and I’m really happy.”
Lucia Bronzetti, ranked 78th in the world, took the lead for the Italian team, defeating Magda Linert of Poland, ranked 40 higher, in straight sets.
Her 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory paved the way for Paolini, who is seeking to defeat Swiatek for the first time.
But while Paolini won the opening set, her first of four meetings with the Polish world number two, Swiatek won 3-6 6-4 6-4 to send the match into a decider bureau.
Paolini and Errani, who won Olympic doubles gold together in Paris this summer, saved three set points before breaking the Pole’s serve to seal the first set.
After breaking serve in the first game of the second set, Swiatek and Kava won five consecutive games to lead 5-1. A tiebreak looked certain, but the Italians had other ideas.
They also fought hard for five games before getting a chance to serve in this game, and thus secured a spot in the final.
They did so at the first opportunity, sparking a huge celebration from the blue team.
The 2024 BJK Cup champion will be crowned on Wednesday evening, with the final kicking off at 16:00 GMT.
