An inspired Jasmine Paolini led Italy to their fifth Billie Jean King Cup title as they beat Slovakia 2-0 in the final in Malaga.
Paolini produced a tennis masterclass when she beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-2 6-1 in the second singles rubber to complete victory in Wednesday’s final after Lucia Bronzetti defeated 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 more than a decade since their last title in 2013, the charismatic Paolini crushed Sramkova before celebrating wildly with his teammates and ecstatic Italian fans, including world No.1 Jannik Dosa .
“It’s unbelievable, it’s amazing, I don’t have words to describe how I feel right now, it’s incredible,” an emotional Paolini said in court.
“I think we played an unbelievable week and I’m proud of how we performed in every match. I’m very happy that this year we can finally bring the title back to Italy,” added the world number four.
Slovakia were unable to repeat their heroics against England 24 hours earlier, when they went down after Emma Raducanu beat Hruncakova but bounced back to win 2-1.
The Italian victory capped a stunning breakout year for Paolini, who came from relative obscurity to runner-up finishes at the French Open and Wimbledon.
The 28-year-old also won Olympic gold for Italy in women’s doubles alongside Davis Cup teammate Sara Errani.
Paolini and 37-year-old Errani have won the decisive doubles match against Japan, in the quarter-finals, and Poland in the last four.
But the double rubber was not needed after Paolini’s singles victory, which led to wild celebrations from the team and the large Italian contingent in the stands.
Germany tops Canada to reach Davis Cup semifinals
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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 its hopes of winning the Davis Cup for the first time in more than three decades by defeating Canada in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Jan-Lennard Struff rallied to beat Denis Shapovalov 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) and claim victory in his second singles match.
Daniel Altmaier has given Germany its first point with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Gabriel Diallo.
Germany next face the Netherlands on Friday for a place in the final. The Netherlands beat Spain 2-1 on Tuesday in a tie that marked Rafael Nadal’s retirement from professional tennis.
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