Tennis - Billie Jean King Cup Finals - Semi Final - Poland v Italy - Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena, Malaga, Spain - November 18, 2024 Italy's Jasmine Paolini in action during her match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Jon Nazca
MALAGA, Spain (Reuters) - Italian Olympic gold medalists Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini beat Katarzyna Kawa and Iga Swiatek to secure a hard-fought, thrilling 2-1 victory over Poland on Monday and send Italy into the Billie Jean King Cup final for the second consecutive year.
Lucia Bronzetti put the Italians ahead with a 6-4 7-6(3) singles win over Magda Linette but an imperious Swiatek almost worked her magic to lead Poland to what would be a historic win by beating Paolini 3-6 6-4 6-4 in singles and coming inches close to a comeback victory in a breath-taking doubles that went into the early hours of Tuesday.
Paolini, who has never beaten world number two Swiatek in their three previous attempts, including a 6-2 6-1 defeat to the Polish juggernaut in the French Open final in June, started well and won the first set.
But in two evenly matched and very similar sets between the two-highest ranked players in the tournament, Swiatek was clutch when it mattered the most and broke Paolini's serve in the 10th game to seal her victory in a thrilling 2 hours and 36 minutes, forcing the doubles clash in southern Spanish city of Malaga.
It was a rare doubles performance for the five-time Grand Slam singles champion Swiatek, who played her first Billie Jean King Cup doubles match since 2019 on Saturday, when she and Kawa beat Czech Republic in the quarter-finals to advance to the final four for the first time.
And on Monday, the Polish pair putted on a great fight against the Paris 2024 Olympic champions Errani and Paolini.
The Italians saved three set points in the first set, and rallied from a 5-1 deficit in set two, to finally close a 7-5, 7-5 win and advance to the final for a seventh time and second year in a row, having lost to Canada in 2023.
"It was tough, the intensity was insane, I was so tired but I had to give it all to my team and my country," Paolini said.
"I was sad after losing to Iga in singles but I went to the locker room and tried to be positive because I knew my team mates needed me."
In Wednesday's final, Italy will face either Britain or Slovakia, which play the other semis on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Michael Perry)
