MALAGA, Spain — Italian Olympic gold medalists Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini beat Katarzyna Kawa and Iga Swiatek to safe a hard-fought, thrilling 2-1 victory over Poland on Monday and ship Italy into the Billie Jean King Cup closing for the second consecutive yr.
Lucia Bronzetti put the Italians forward with a 6-4 7-6(3) singles win over Magda Linette however an imperious Swiatek nearly labored her magic to steer Poland to what can be a historic win by beating Paolini 3-6 6-4 6-4 in singles and coming inches near a comeback victory in a breath-taking doubles that went into the early hours of Tuesday.
Paolini, who has by no means overwhelmed world quantity two Swiatek of their three earlier makes an attempt, together with a 6-2 6-1 defeat to the Polish juggernaut within the French Open closing in June, began nicely and received the primary set.
However in two evenly matched and really related units between the two-highest ranked gamers within the event, Swiatek was clutch when it mattered probably the most and broke Paolini’s serve within the tenth recreation to seal her victory in an exhilarating 2 hours and 36 minutes, forcing the doubles conflict in southern Spanish metropolis of Malaga.
It was a uncommon doubles efficiency for the five-time Grand Slam singles champion Swiatek, who performed her first Billie Jean King Cup doubles match since 2019 on Saturday, when she and Kawa beat Czech Republic within the quarter-finals to advance to the ultimate 4 for the primary time.
And on Monday, the Polish pair putted on an important combat towards the Paris 2024 Olympic champions Errani and Paolini.
The Italians saved three set factors within the first set, and rallied from a 5-1 deficit in set two, to lastly shut a 7-5, 7-5 win and advance to the ultimate for a seventh time and second yr in a row, having misplaced to Canada in 2023.
“It was powerful, the depth was insane, I used to be so drained however I needed to give all of it to my crew and my nation,” Paolini mentioned.
“I used to be unhappy after shedding to Iga in singles however I went to the locker room and tried to be constructive as a result of I knew my crew mates wanted me.”
In Wednesday’s closing, Italy will face both Britain or Slovakia, which play the opposite semis on Tuesday.