Team Slovakia, from right: Tereza Mihalíková, Renáta Jamrichová, Viktória Hrunčáková, Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, Rebecca Šramková and coach Martin Lipták. (source: TASR)
Slovakia's hopes of winning their first Billie Jean King Cup final in more than 20 years didn't come to fruition. On Wednesday evening, Slovak female tennis players were decisively defeated by Team Italy 2-0. Last time Slovakia won the tournament was in 2002.
Olympic doubles champion Jasmine Paolini sealed the victory after her teammate Lucia Bronzetti had put the Italians in the lead earlier in the day in the best-of-three-match format. Paolini beat Rebecca Šrámková 6-2 and 6-1, while Bronzetti won over Viktoria Hrunčáková 6-2, 6-4.
Despite the loss, Slovak players achieved a great success; on their way to the finals, they beat three Grand Slam nations: the United States last week on Thursday, Austria on Sunday, and Great Britain on Monday.
"This is a special moment for our country, for our players and for tennis in Slovakia," said captain Matej Lipták after beating Great Britain, as quoted by the official tournament website.
"All my girls will be legends now. Even if they don't finish it [on Wednesday], this is a really special moment for them and for our country. Everyone will know who was in this team. But we will try to go one more match."
