After 10 years, Italy returns to the Olympus of women’s tennis to apply Billie Jean King Cup. In Seville, where the Spanish public, orphaned by its favorites, has always cheered on the blue team as if it were their ownTathiana Garbin’s girls defeated Slovenia in the semifinals and now they face the winner between Canada and the Czech Republic.
An achievement that few believed in on the eve of the Iberian trip and which was largely due to the excellent performances of Jasmine Paolini And Martina Trevisan, capable of winning all their games. It was the tennis player from Bagni di Lucca who finished the game against Slovenia: the Italian, number 30 in the WTA rankings, won in two hours with a score of 6:2, 4:6, 6:3 over Tamara Zidansek, number 100 in the WTA world rankings. A heartfelt game with a difficult moment in the second set and at the start of the third when the Slovenian tried to scare the Italian with her serve and a series of powerful forehands. But it was precisely at that moment that Paolini, encouraged by the entire Italian bench, reacted strongly and finished easily, thanks in part to excellent first serves. Shortly before, Martina Trevisan had beaten Kaja Juvan in straight sets, with a score of 7:6 (8/6), 6:3 in two hours and 20 minutes of play.
It was like that with Slovenia a team victory, emphasized Tathiana Garbin, who took over as manager of the team in 2017, when Italy was relegated to the second division of world tennis. “I am very proud of my girls. “You have done something extraordinary,” she said. “I met her at a very young age. We started when Martina and Jasmine were very young and debuted in Forlì. It is being built remotely. Often young people want everything immediately. These girls have built their careers remotely. And the ambition also grows: “We are never satisfied. Today we have to celebrate, but we are not satisfied. We want to win the final tomorrow. Our opponents are very strong, but we have our passion on our side and the passion of the Italians, who I hope will flock here to Spain.” The dream is to retrace the path of 2013 When the competition was still called Fed Cup and the winners were Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci, Flavia Pennetta and Karin Knapp. “Today will be a new day, but we will have fun,” concludes the blue captain. And maybe the Sevillian audience will also help. “It’s awesome. Everything is super organized here. And then we’re a little bit Spanish and she’s a little bit Italian.”