Billie Jean King Cup: Italy win final over Slovakia as dominant Jasmine Paolini downs Rebecca Sramkova
By Ben Southby
Updated 20/11/2024 at 23:42 GMT
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Italy have won the Billie Jean King Cup after Jasmine Paolini claimed a dominant victory over Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova in Malaga, Spain, winning 6-2 6-1. Earlier in the day, Lucia Bronzetti overcame Viktoria Hruncakova to give Italy a 1-0 lead over Slovakia in the competition's opening final. It was the Italians' first Billie Jean King Cup triumph since 2013.
‘It’s amazing’ - Paolini says Italy's BJK Cup triumph ‘a nice way to finish the year’
Video credit: SNTV
Italy have won the Billie Jean King Cup after Jasmine Paolini beat Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova 6-2 6-1 in Malaga, Spain.
French Open and Wimbledon finalist Paolini sealed the victory hours after Lucia Bronzetti won over Viktoria Hruncakova in the opening singles tie.
The world No. 4 helped claim her nation's fifth Billie Jean King Cup title and first since 2013, with Italy having finished runners-up 12 months ago, losing to Canada in the final.
"It's unbelievable, amazing. I don't have words to describe how I feel right now. It's just incredible," Paolini said on court.
"I think we played an unbelievable week, and I'm so proud of how we did it in every match. I'm very happy that this year we finally were able to bring the title back to Italy."
Paolini, who fell to a 6-2 6-3 defeat to Canada's Leylah Fernandez in last year's final, added: "I think last year Leylah [Fernandez] played really well, she played better than me. That's the way it is sometimes in sports.
"Today when I stepped on court I told myself that I was going to give 100 per cent ... If you win, you win. But if you lose, you have to accept that. We are going to fight for every ball, and today it went well for us."
Slovakia star and world No. 43 Sramkova had been the revelation of this year's tournament, claiming wins over Danielle Collins, Ajla Tomljanovic and Katie Boulter to make it to the final, but struggled to emulate such form against Paolini.
A nervy first set saw the pair play to serve for the opening five games, before Paolini upped her depth and aggression on return in the sixth to break Sramkova for a 4-2 lead.
The Italian capitalised on her advantage, holding serve with a brilliant backhand winner down the line before breaking again in the eighth and final game to give her country a 6-2 opening set win.
Paolini's early break in the second was canceled out impressively by Sramkova in the next game. But the Italian continued to pile on the pressure, breaking again in the fourth en route to a 4-1 lead.
Sramkov's unforced error count began to rise alarmingly, as Paolini broke for a fifth time in the contest before serving her country to victory a game later.
While it is a first Cup win for Paolini and Bronzetti, it marks a fourth for veteran Sara Errani, whom Paolini will team up with to take on Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova in the dead-rubber doubles match.
Bronzetti's dominant 6-2 6-4 win over Hruncakova
Earlier in the day, Italy took the lead over Slovakia after Bronzetti beat Hruncakova.
World No. 78 Bronzetti rallied to a dominant 6-2 6-4 victory over her Slovakian opponent to gain the advantage for Italy.
"I'm very proud to be here and represent Italy," Bronzetti said after playing only her second singles match.
"I'm so happy for this win, it was not easy because we are in the final and every match is tough, but I'm very happy to win this point for Italy."
In a tightly-contested start, there were three breaks in the first three games before the brilliant Bronzetti sealed a comfortable opening set in 40 minutes.
She raced ahead but let two break points slip in the first game as Hruncakova fought back from 40-15 down to level, but Bronzetti nailed the maiden break on her third attempt.
The pair were locked at deuce again in the following game and Hruncakova continued her fighting spirit to instantly hit back for 1-1, but Bronzetti moved back in front with a relentless double break.
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The confident-looking Italian extended her advantage as she held for the first time in the match, but Hruncakova just about stuck with her to keep the deficit to one.
However, the first set began to run away from Hruncakova, as Bronzetti swatted away two break points before gaining her third of the set, and then settled the opener with a brilliant forehand.
Bronzetti continued to grow in confidence as she kicked off the second set with an exceptional backhand slice at the net to gain another instant break.
But just as the 25-year-old was beginning to build momentum and take the match away from her 26-year-old counterpart, Hruncakova struck back for a break in a carbon copy to the beginning of the opening set.
She then led for the first time in the match when she held to 15, but Bronzetti roared back with a scintillating game to hold to love.
However, the momentum began to shift as Hruncakova started to dominate when she broke Bronzetti to love and built a two-game cushion for some breathing space as she closed in on an equalising set.
As Hruncakova looked to go three games ahead with the ball, her fourth double fault of the match invited Bronzetti back in, who fought back from 40-15 to force deuce, before ultimately capitalising on some untidy play from Hruncakova to snatch a crucial break.
She then propelled herself closer to victory as she claimed seven points in a row in an electrifying surge to the finish line, breaking Hruncakova for the third time in the set to serve for the match.
Bronzetti was even more convincing as she closed out the match to love, handing Italy a huge advantage in the final after an excellent performance from start to finish.
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