Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Ad image

Swiatek led Poland and Italy notched up wins in the Billie Jean King Cup.

MONews
3 Min Read

MALAGA, Spain — Iga Swatek’s singles and doubles wins helped Poland bounce back from a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the Billie Jean King Cup on Saturday.

Poland will meet Italy in the semifinals after Jasmine Paolini also led Italy to a 2-1 win over Japan with wins in her singles and doubles matches.

Marie Bouzkova beat Magdalena Frech 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 for the Czech Republic on the indoor hard courts of the Palacio del Deportes in Malaga. Got ahead by 0.

Second-place Swiatek equalized with a 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5 win over Linda Noskova.

The five-time Grand Slam champion returned to the court after a brief break to help Katarzyna Kawa beat two of the world’s best doubles players, Katerina Siniakova and Bouzkova, 6-2, 6-4.

“Let’s have fun with this,” Swiatek said. “Obviously it was a tiring day and a really tough game, but I’m really happy to have won the last game.”

She added that she had not played doubles in three years and praised Kawa’s well-placed passing shot in the doubles lane as key to the victory.

Swiatek showed no signs of fatigue in the 3 hours and 50 minutes of continuous play. The Polish pair converted all four of their break opportunities to post more winners (29-18) than the Czech Republic.

Poland is looking for its first title. The Czech Republic has won the title for the 11th time, second only to the United States’ 18 wins.

Italy advances to consecutive finals

Fourth-ranked Paolini, who advanced to the Wimbledon and French Open finals, defeated Moyuka Uchijima 6-3, 6-4 to tie the score at 1-1. She then helped Sara Errani win the quarterfinals by beating Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi 6-3, 6-4.

Japan took the lead with Ena Shibahara defeating Elisabetta Cocciareto 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Uchijima stole Paolini’s first service game. But that was just a minor mistake in a dominant display from the Italian. Paolini went on to win consecutive matches, breaking Uchijima four times and winning 17 forehands.

In the doubles match, the Italian team defeated the Japanese team four times, making only 14 mistakes compared to 23 by their opponents.

“Japan is a tough cookie, as they say in English,” said Italy captain Tatiana Garbin. “It was fun to see this level because they played with such courage. Our players played unbelievable doubles, so we did it.”

Italy Lost in last year’s final To Canada.

Share This Article