MALAGA, Spain — Aryna Sabalenka ends the year as the women’s world number one, but anyone could make a compelling argument for Jasmine Paolini as WTA Player of the Year.
After two Grand Slam finals, a new career record of world number 4 and a Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles with compatriot Sara ErraniPaolini is a Billie Jean King Cup champion. She secured the title for Italy by winning the deciding match against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova on Wednesday night, giving her country a 2-0 victory in the final.
It’s a remarkable season for a player who started the year ranked 30th, never making it past the third round in a major tournament. Paolini is the architect of Italy’s first Billie Jean King Cup success since 2013, when the country had four women in Grand Slam finals and in the world’s top 10. One of those women was Errani, who more than played her part in Italy’s success here. , winning two double rubbers with Paolini in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. His underarm serve on match point against Iga Swiatek’s Poland on Monday to secure a place in the final will remain engraved in tennis folklore.
There was no doubles in the final as Paolini’s 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sramkova gave the Italians an unassailable lead after Lucia Bronzetti beat Viktoria Hruncakova 6-2, 6-4 in the first draw.
World No. 78 Bronzetti was not selected for Italy’s quarter-final against Japan on Saturday and had never played a Billie Jean King Cup singles match before this week, but she turned up for the semi-final and the final and won in straight sets each time. These team competitions have a habit of turning previously unknown players into heroes, and Bronzetti has been on that journey in recent days. After beating Hruncakova – the 281st in the world who herself became a hero for Slovakia – the Italian supporters gathered in the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena sang “Lucia!” Lucy!
Italy entered the final as favourites, with Slovakia beating three Grand Slam nations to get there. The Italians knew that by winning, they would be champions of the Billie Jean King Cup and the Davis Cup — at least for a few days — with tennis in Italy in great shape after Jannik sinnerPaolini’s dominant season and Paolini’s incredible rise.
Bronzetti put the Italians on the path with her victory against Hruncakova. The early rallies were nervy, with both players giving up breaks, but Bronzetti’s forehand began to do damage as Hruncakova made errors. She made four unforced errors in the first set, compared to just nine winners.
Hruncakova recovered well in the second set and began to dominate with her more powerful shot, but after missing two points for 5-2, she did not win another match. The errors returned and the footwork slowed as Bronzetti scored the final 10 points of the match to win the opener.
It was up to Paolini to secure the tie and achieve the winning singles moment that had eluded him in a Grand Slam final. Those losses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon against Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova must have been somewhere on his mind – although with Paolini’s inherently positive attitude, that would be impossible to tell.
She was clinical here.
After a close opening, Paolini accelerated to the finish line and, from 2-2 down in the first set, won five straight games to open a 6-2, 2-0 lead. By the time she closed things out, shortly after winning 10 of the last 11 matches. A remarkably clean performance after last year, when she lost the decisive rubber that gave Canada the title and relegated Italy to second place.
As Sramkova missed a final return, she let out an involuntary cry of celebration, and moments later, Paolini was dancing with her teammates and hoisting an Italian flag.
A fitting end to a truly unforgettable year and a great reward for Italy, who hope their men’s players can match the feat later this week.
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Tennis, Women’s Tennis
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