Semi-final Preview: Italy v Poland
17/11/2024 19:34
With the likelihood of Jasmine Paolini and Iga Swiatek facing off across the net, and of more thrilling doubles, Monday’s semi-final is shaping up to be a blockbuster affair
By Molly McElwee
What’s at stake
Italy and Poland are fighting it out for a place in the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge final on Wednesday.
Italy are one of four nations to have competed at the Billie Jean King Cup every season it has been played, and they were finalists last year.
Four members of their team from 2023 – Jasmine Paolini, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Lucia Bronzetti and Martina Trevisan – are in Malaga, as well as the experienced Sara Errani, who is back in the squad for the first time since 2019.
She and Paolini earned the decisive point in their 2-1 quarter-final win over Japan on Saturday. It was Errani’s 27th match-win for Italy, pushing her up to joint-top of the country’s leaderboard alongside Francesca Schiavone.
Meanwhile Poland are in completely new territory in reaching the semi-final. They were also pushed to the third match to clinch their victory over Czechia in the previous round. Their team has been bolstered by the presence of world No. 2 Iga Swiatek and she has already proven hugely influential.
History
This is already Poland’s best finish in the competition, as they had never won a quarter-final in two previous appearances – in 1992 and 2015. Making the final would be a significant moment in the nation’s tennis history and would cap off a fantastic season for Swiatek on a personal level, after she won Poland’s first ever Olympic medal in tennis, with bronze at Paris 2024.
Italy are four-time champions but have not won this competition since 2013. Their defeat in the final last year to Canada was as close as they have come since. Thirty-seven-year-old Errani joining the team, as the oldest player competing here in
Malaga at this year’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals, has brought an important edge to the team in doubles.
Who to watch out for
The clash of the two top-ranked singles players will be a highlight of this tie. Both Italy and Poland’s No 1 players - Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini - won in singles and doubles during their quarter-finals on Saturday.
For five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, that was more unusual. She had not contested a doubles match since 2021, but stepped up for Poland in their quarter-final when it mattered most, alongside teammate Katarzyna Kawa.
“That’s my last tournament of the season, playing for Poland is always amazing, so even if I’m going to die on court I’ll do it, I’ll give 100 percent,” Swiatek said after the exhilarating doubles win.
She will likely face Paolini in singles in a repeat of this year’s Roland-Garros final, which Swiatek won decisively 6-2 6-1.
She leads their head-to-head 3-0 and has not lost a match in the Billie Jean King Cup since 2019.
Paolini though will be a tough opponent regardless. The world No. 4 has had a stellar year, including two Grand Slam finals and reaching the WTA Finals in singles and doubles. Her partnership with Errani throughout the season, which saw them win Olympic gold and qualify for the year-end WTA Finals, will also be a big advantage if this tie goes to a decider.
Who is saying what?
Iga Swiatek on playing doubles: “I’m super happy [Kawa] was leading our doubles so well and picking the right tactics and kind of telling me what to do, because I haven’t been playing doubles in a while. I think we made a really good team.”
Jasmine Paolini on playing Iga Swiatek: “If I play against her, I hope it’s going to be better than Paris [in the Roland-Garros final], because in Paris [it] was really, really tough. I hope to play better.”
