MALAGA, Spain — Two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini capped a breakthrough season by main Italy to its first Billie Jean King Cup title since 2013 on Wednesday, defeating Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 to seal a 2-0 victory over Slovakia within the last of the ladies’s workforce competitors.
When Paolini’s win ended, she was joined on court docket by her teammates, and so they embraced one another, then danced and sang alongside because the Gypsy Kings’ model of “Volare” blared on the loudspeakers.
The No. 4-ranked Paolini was the runner-up on the French Open in June and at Wimbledon in July, making her the primary lady since Serena Williams in 2016 to get to the title matches at Roland Garros and the All England Membership in the identical season. Earlier than this 12 months, Paolini, who’s 28, had misplaced within the first or second spherical in all 16 profession appearances at majors.
“Unbelievable 12 months. Unbelievable. A loopy 12 months. To complete like this, with a title … it’s wonderful. I don’t have phrases to explain it. I’m making an attempt simply to take pleasure in each second,” Paolini stated. “I really feel fortunate to be within the place. I really feel fortunate to be a part of this workforce.”
She additionally teamed with Sara Errani to win a doubles gold medal on the Paris Olympics in August. They have been lined as much as play within the concluding match in opposition to Slovakia, nevertheless it wasn’t wanted as a result of Italy clinched the best-of-three collection by sweeping the 2 singles matches.
“Jasmine raised her degree actually excessive this 12 months. … She’s an instance for all of us,” stated her teammate, 78th-ranked Lucia Bronzetti, who took Wednesday’s opener by a 6-2, 6-4 rating in opposition to Viktoria Hruncakova earlier than a crowd that included Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Famer and equal rights pioneer Billie Jean King herself.
Bronzetti referred to as it an “honour” to compete in entrance of the lady for whom the occasion is called, saying, “She is a superb particular person, a fantastic legend.”
Italy, which eradicated Iga Swiatek and Poland within the semifinals, earned its fifth championship a 12 months after ending because the runner-up to Canada.
“I’m so happy with them. They combat day by day,” Italian captain Tathiana Garbin stated. “This journey was unimaginable.”
The triumph provides to what’s been fairly a current run for Italy in tennis, together with two Grand Slam trophies in 2024 and the No. 1 males’s rating for Jannik Sinner, who helped his nation declare final 12 months’s Davis Cup. Sinner and Italy meet Argentina within the males’s quarterfinals Thursday.
That is the primary time the 2 premier Worldwide Tennis Federation workforce occasions are being held on the identical web site, though the ladies’s matches are being performed in a a lot smaller venue. They’re utilizing a short lived court docket arrange beneath a white tent, with a capability of 4,000; the boys are taking part in in a everlasting area with 9,200 seats that have been full Tuesday for Rafael Nadal’s final match earlier than retirement in Spain’s loss to the Netherlands.
Bronzetti by no means had performed a BJK Cup singles match till this week. She stated she didn’t discover out till Tuesday evening that she can be within the lineup in opposition to Slovakia.
“I didn’t sleep very properly,” Bronzetti stated.
“You’re not taking part in only for your self,” she stated. “You’re taking part in in your workforce and your nation.”
Serenaded by chants of her first identify — “Lavatory-Chee-Ah! Lavatory-Chee-Ah!” — that mingled with the sounds of a drum and crimson plastic horn performed within the cheering part behind Slovakia’s bench, Bronzetti claimed the final three video games of the primary set and the final 4 of the match.
She trailed 4-2, 40-15 within the second set however turned it round.
“I used to be slightly nervous I used to be going to a 3rd,” Bronzetti stated.
Slovakia, which received the BJK Cup in 2002, eradicated the US, Australia and Britain to get to the ultimate this time.
