+34
Elina Svitolina slammed her racket on the court to celebrate earning Ukraine a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time Saturday.
SHENZHEN, China — Elina Svitolina slammed her racket on the court to celebrate earning Ukraine a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time Saturday.
The seventh-ranked Svitolina had plenty of emotions running through her mind after she beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2 to seal a 2-0 victory over two-time defending champion Italy in the semifinals of the women’s tennis team event. There was a semifinal match that Svitolina lost to Paolini in last year’s competition. And Svitolina has been one of Ukraine’s highest-profile athletes raising her political voice about Russia’s invasion of her country.
“Just a really special moment for us, for Ukraine,” Svitolina said. “We are going through difficult times back home — all the people. It’s just unbelievable to get for the first time in a final. ” At this stage last year, Svitolina was a set and 4-2 up before Paolini came back to beat her.
“It was a really tough loss for me last year here,” Svitolina said. “So I really had to be focused and really step up my game. ” Paolini was on a 10-match winning streak in the competition. Earlier, Anhelina Kalinina had put Ukraine ahead 1-0 by beating Tyra Caterina Grant 6-3, 6-4 in Grant’s competition debut.
In Sunday’s final, Ukraine will face Czechia, which is led by Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova and No. 1 doubles player Katerina Siniakova. Czechia beat Spain 2-0 in their semifinal Friday and also shut out Britain 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Ukraine beat Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Against Belgium, Svitolina had lost in singles to 217th-ranked Greet Minnen before Kalinina and Lyudmyla Kichenok won a decisive doubles match.
“I was very upset after the first day against Belgium. ... I felt like I didn’t play at my best,” Svitolina said.
“I really tried to use this chance, get better with my game, with my performance. Thanks to the team that they really supported me in this way. We practiced, we worked on few things. ...
Such an historical moment for Ukraine. ” Czechia, formerly known as the Czech Republic, stands second all time with 11 titles in the competition previously called Fed Cup. The United States, which did not qualify for the finals, has won a record 18 titles. ___ See AP’s full tennis coverage here The Associated Press
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ukraine defeats Belgium 2-1 to reach Billie Jean King Cup semifinalsUkraine secured a 2-1 victory over Belgium in Shenzhen, China, advancing to the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals. The decisive doubles match was won by Anhelina Kalinina and Lyudmyla Kichenok, while Elina Svitolina's upset loss to Greet Minnen kept Belgium in the contest until the final match.
Read more »
What’s Canada’s role as Ukraine redounds to victory?Canada can help by continuing to demonstrate solid and unwavering support for Ukraine, and by working much harder with our allies to build on Ukraine’s battlefield successes.
Read more »
Ontario Donates 1 Million to Ukraine Energy Support FundOntario Premier Doug Ford announced a 1 million dollar donation to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund during a meeting with United for Ukraine. The funds will help repair energy infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.
Read more »
Zelenskyy Asks Trump to Press China to Influence Russia on UkraineUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he asked U.S. President Donald Trump to press China's leader to use Beijing's influence over Moscow to help end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Read more »