Iga Swiatek has just clinched another thriller win at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals as the world No. 2 came back from a set down to beat fourth-ranked Jasmine Paolini 3-6 6-4 6-4 and force a deciding rubber in the Poland and Italy semifinal tie.
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On Saturday, the five-time Grand Slam champion had to save Poland after it went down 0-1 to the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal. That day, the 23-year-old clinched a hard-fought three-set win over Linda Noskova before also winning the deciding doubles match with Katarzina Kawa to send her nation into their first BJK Cup semifinal.
Today, Swiatek found herself in the same situation after Magda Linette lost to Lucia Bronzetti in the opening rubber. And once again, she did her best to at least force the deciding matchup.
Now, she will probably again team up with Kawa and try to do the same thing she did two days earlier.
How Swiatek recovered to beat Paolini?
After the Pole saved two break points in the fourth game and earned the first break of the match in the following game for a 3-2 lead, many probably assumed that she would go on to seal the first set. But stunningly, the five-time Grand Slam champion didn't win a single game in the remainder of the opener as the Italian won the next four games to overturn the deficit and go up by a set.
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Early in the second set, Swiatek was in major danger of falling down by a set and a break. But luckily for the world No. 2, she managed to save three break points in the third game and two more in the fifth game. Failing to realize her opportunities came back to haunt Paolini, who got broken in the 10th game - the game in which she was serving to stay in the second set.
However, losing the second set in a devastating way didn't mentally crush the 2024 Wimbledon runner-up, who kept fighting hard. At the start of the third set, the world No. 4 missed out on four break points in the third game - got broken in the fourth game - but instantly got the break back in the following game.
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But just like in the second set - when the time came for Paolini to serve out to stay in the set - she didn't manage to do so as Swiatek went to complete her comeback win.
