Italy Advances to the Billie Jean King Cup Final for the Third Consecutive Year
SHENZHEN, China – The Italian team, the current champion, secured its place in the Billie Jean King Cup final for the third consecutive year after coming back and defeating Ukraine 2-1 in the semifinals on Friday. Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, Roland Garros champions, won the decisive doubles match against Marta Kostyuk and Lyudmyla Kichenok with a score of 6-2, 6-3. In the second set, Kostyuk and Kichenok were leading 3-1 and had a chance to go up 4-2, but they committed a double fault.This was the second point won by Paolini, who, after being a set and 4-2 down against Elina Svitolina, managed to recover and win the second individual match with partials of 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Marta Kostyuk had given Ukraine an initial lead by defeating Elisabetta Cocciaretto with a score of 6-2, 6-3. Inspired by Paolini, the Italians will seek their fifth title in the 2024 final, after losing against Canada in the 2023 final. Ukraine, for its part, played the semifinals for the first time in its history. The United States and Great Britain will face each other in the second semi-final on Saturday. The United States defeated Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals, while Great Britain overcame Japan. The BJK Cup, formerly known as the Fed Cup, has the United States as the most successful team, with 18 titles, although they haven’t won since 2017.
