TENNIS – ITALY moved to the brink of another Billie Jean King Cup Finals appearance as Jasmine Paolini and Elisabetta Cocciaretto gave the holders a commanding 2-0 lead over Japan in their qualifier in Velletri yesterday.
Cocciaretto set the tone with a solid 7-5 6-2 victory over Moyuka Uchijima, edging a tight opening set before building momentum and using her power to pull clear in the second despite a brief fightback by the Japanese player.
Jasmine Paolini then delighted the crowd with a composed 6-3 6-1 win against Himeno Sakatsume, the world number eight lifting her level to claim a seventh straight Billie Jean King Cup singles win and leave Italy one step from qualification.
Top-ranked players Elina Svitolina, Belinda Bencic and Linda Noskova were among the winners for their respective countries on a day that saw several surprising results.
Ukraine’s world number seven Svitolina sailed past Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa 6-2 6-1, while her partner Marta Kostyuk defeated Magda Linette as they took a 2-0 lead in Gliwice.
World number 14 Noskova of the Czech Republic cancelled out Swiss Bencic’s thrilling opening victory to help the 11-times champions level the tie at 1-1 in Biel.
Noskova beat Viktorija Golubic 6-1 6-4 after Bencic overcame Marie Bouzkova 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-4 in a marathon encounter that topped three hours.
Britain also made a strong start in Melbourne, taking a 2-0 lead over Australia after impressive wins from 17-year-old debutant Mika Stojsavljevic and Harriet Dart on the opening day.
Stojsavljevic produced a fearless display to beat Australia’s top-ranked player Talia Gibson 7-6(4) 7-5 while Dart defeated Kimberly Birrell 4-6 6-3 6-3.
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