An inspired Jasmine Paolini led Italy to a fifth Billie Jean King Cup title as they beat Slovakia 2-0 in the final in Malaga.
Paolini put on a tennis masterclass as she beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-2 6-1 in the second singles rubber to wrap up victory in the final on Wednesday after Lucia Bronzetti overcame Viktoria Hruncakova 6-2 6-4 in the opening singles rubber.
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 men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner
“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,” the world number four added.
Slovakia were unable to repeat their heroics against Great Britain 24 hours earlier, when they fell behind after Emma Raducanu beat Hruncakova but hit back to win 2-1.
Italy’s victory capped an astonishing breakout year for Paolini, who came from relative obscurity to finish runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon.
The 28-year-old also won Olympic gold for Italy in the women’s doubles alongside Davis Cup team-mate Sara Errani.
Paolini and 37-year-old Errani had won the decisive doubles matches in their victories over Japan, in the quarter-finals, and Poland in the last four.
But the doubles rubber was not required after Paolini’s singles victory, which sparked wild celebrations from the team and the large Italian contingent in the stands.
Germany top Canada to reach Davis Cup semi-finals
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After Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis, former rival and friend Andy Murray paid tribute to the Spanish star and his humility on the court
Germany kept alive their hopes of winning the Davis Cup for the first time in more than three decades by beating Canada in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.
Jan-Lennard Struff rallied to defeat Denis Shapovalov 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) and clinch the victory in the second singles match of the tie.
Daniel Altmaier had given Germany the first point with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Gabriel Diallo.
Germany will next face the Netherlands on Friday for a spot in the final. The Dutch defeated Spain 2-1 on Tuesday in a tie that marked Rafael Nadal’s retirement from professional tennis.
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