Jasmine Paolini defeated Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 in the second singles match to complete a 2-0 victory against Slovakia in the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, leading Italy to their fifth victory title.
After she won, the athlete said: “It’s unbelievable, amazing, I don’t have words to describe how I feel right now, it’s just incredible.”
She added: “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.”
In a social media post, Paolini shared: “WORLD CHAMPIONS!! 🇮🇹 Fantastic to be part of this team, an incredible victory together!! 🏆💪🏾”
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In last year’s final in Seville, Paolini lost to Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 6-3.
Reflecting on last year’s performance, she stated: “I think last year Leylah (Fernandez) played really well, she played better than me. That’s the way it is sometimes in sports…. Today when I stepped on court I told myself that I was going to give 100 percent… 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 was put on the road to victory by Lucia Bronzetti who, playing only her second BJK Cup singles match, defeated Viktoria Hruncakova 6-2, 6-4.
Bronzetti stated: “I’m very proud to be here, to represent Italy, I’m so happy for this win… It was not as easy as it may have looked. We are in the final so every match is tough. I’m very happy to have earned the point for Italy.”
Source: CNA