Jasmine Paolini put on a masterclass to steer Italy to a fifth Billie Jean King Cup title as she beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 in the second singles rubber to wrap up a 2-0 win over Slovakia in the final on Wednesday.
A year after Italy suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Canada in the decider and over a decade since their last title in 2013, the charismatic Paolini demolished Sramkova before celebrating wildly with her teammates and jubilant Italian fans, including the men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
Slovakia, the underdogs who had stunned Britain on their way to the final, never got going against an imperious Italy, who got off the mark with Lucia Bronzetti’s dominant 6-2, 6-4 win over Viktoria Hruncakova in the opening match.
“It’s unbelievable, amazing, I don’t have words to describe how I feel right now, it’s just incredible,” an emotional 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 fell to a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in last year’s final in Seville. Yet this time around Paolini, a Wimbledon and Roland Garros finalist over the past six months, put in a commanding performance against the 43rd-ranked Sramkova, who tried to gut it out while suffering with cramp throughout the second set.
“I think last year Leylah [Fernandez] played really well, she played better than me. That’s the way it is sometimes in sports,” Paolini said. “Today when I stepped on court I told myself that I was going to give 100% … 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.”
Italy’s perfect day started with a superb performance from Bronzetti, who was playing only her second BJK Cup singles match, following her debut win in the semi-final against Poland.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu will start preparations for 2025 after Great Britain’s BJK Cup semi-final loss to Slovakia brought her season to a close. Raducanu won all three of her matches in Málaga in straight sets after returning from another injury layoff having sprained ligaments in her foot two months ago.
This has by no means been a disappointing year for the 22-year-old, who has shown encouraging consistency when she has been on court, but questions remain about her scheduling and physical resilience. She confirmed she is in talks with the fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura and a permanent hiring in that area would certainly be a big step in the right direction. “I think I had some good performances on the court this week,” she said.
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“I played three matches, which is great for me. I haven’t played in a while so I think being able to score a point and get on the board was helpful. I think the positives to take are, physically, I held up pretty well. It didn’t take me too long to step back into that match sharpness.”
The disappointment for her GB teammate Katie Boulter was clear after coming so close to taking Britain through to the final, but she can look back with pride at her achievements in 2024. She won two WTA Tour titles, including a first at 500 level in San Diego, and is finishing the year ranked among the world’s top 25.
“It’s going to be really important for me to take a moment for myself, remember what I’ve actually done this year,” said the 28-year-old. “I’ve got two titles behind me. I’m at a career-high ranking. This week has also been great for me. I have had some really good wins. I really want to use that next year, and I really feel like I can push on.”
Source: theguardian.com
