Ukraine’s women’s tennis team has reached the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time in history. In the semifinal tie, Ukraine secured an early 2-0 victory over Italy.
Glavnoe reports this with reference to the match broadcast on Setanta.
Elina Svitolina delivered the decisive second point for Ukraine, defeating Jasmine Paolini in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
Earlier, Angelina Kalinina also won in straight sets, beating Tyra Caterina Grant 6-3, 6-4. It was Kalinina’s fourth victory in four singles matches for the national team and her fifth overall win in the team competition.
Svitolina avenged her defeat to Paolini in last year’s semifinal and recorded her third victory over the Italian in four head-to-head matches.
The win was Svitolina’s 20th in the team competition. She became the fifth Ukrainian woman to reach that milestone. Olena Tatarkova, Kateryna Bondarenko, Alona Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk had previously achieved the feat, including doubles matches.
Ukraine defeated Italy for the first time in six head-to-head ties and ended the Italian team’s eight-match winning streak. Italy has won the tournament six times, including in each of the previous two seasons.
In the final, Ukraine will face the Czech Republic, an 11-time winner of the trophy.
The decisive tie will take place on Sunday and is scheduled to begin at 12:00 Kyiv time.
