Italy won their first Billie Jean King Cup title in 11 years as Jasmine Paolini secured a 2-0 victory over Slovakia in Malaga.
Paolini, who had a breakthrough 2024 season, was part of the Italian team that finished second behind Canada 12 months ago.
The world number four won 6-2 6-1 against Rebecca Sramkova after Lucia Bronzetti gave Italy the lead with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Viktoria Hruncakova in the first singles match.
“I always dreamed of this trophy,” said Bronzetti, who was playing only his second singles match in the competition.
“We are world champions, we can be much happier. It’s a dream for all of us and we are very proud of it.”
Italy, who will earn $2.4 million (£1.9 million) in prize money by winning their fifth title, have recently become a tennis powerhouse, with the men’s team – led by world number one Jannik Sinner – winning his first Davis Cup in 47 years in 2023.
“I think it’s an incredible year for Italian tennis and it’s so good for our sport in our country,” Paolini told reporters.
“We now have a lot of tennis fans in Italy, tennis is growing a lot.”
Captain Tathiana Garbin said: “It’s a dream come true. I have such great champions, great players and great human beings.
“I’m so proud of them. They fight every day.”
Slovakia, which eliminated Great Britain On Tuesday, they played their first final since winning the tournament in 2002.
Paolini ends ‘incredible year’ with Italy victory
Paolini was ranked 30th when she was beaten by Canadian Leylah Fernandez in last year’s final, despite having never progressed past the second round of a major tournament.
But the 28-year-old has had a stellar 2024, reaching the final of both the French Open and Wimbledon before winning Olympic doubles gold in Paris with Sara Errani.
Paolini raised her arms in the air and happily jumped onto the field with her teammates as she won the title for Italy.
“An incredible year, a crazy year. To finish like this with a Billie Jean King Cup title is incredible. I have no words to describe it,” Paolini said.
Sramkova, ranked 43, had been in scintillating form last week, triumphing over world number 11 Danielle Collins of the United States before fighting back to beat British number one Katie Boulter.
But she struggled against Paolini, who took advantage of the Slovak’s 28 unforced errors and won four straight games to seal the victory.
His victory ensured Italy did not need a deciding doubles match in the best-of-three series and denied Errani a 50th appearance in the Billie Jean King Cup.
Paolini added: “I just try to enjoy every moment because it’s also important to understand where you are and I feel lucky to be in this position, I feel lucky to be part of this team .
“I think we played an incredible week and I’m really happy this year that we were able to bring the trophy home.”
