Olympic champion Belinda Bencic led last year’s finalists Switzerland to a 3-0 win against Italy in the first Group A match of the Billie Jean Cup, the unofficial women’s world team tennis championship.
Jil Teichmann saved a match point and defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto by 2-1 (6:3, 4:6, 7:6) to give alead for the Swiss team. After that, the world’s No 12 Belinda Bencic secured the triumph after 2-0 (7:5, 6:3) victory over Jasmine Paolini. Half an hour later, Belinda Bencic came out on the court again and in tandem with Jil Teichmann and the two Swiss women also won the doubles match against Jasmine Paolini and Martina Trevisan with 2-0 (7:6, 6:1).
Spanish tennis team also started with a 3-0 victory in Group C over Kazakhstan. Nuria Parrizas-Diaz gave the Iberian women the lead after a dramatic success over Yulia Putintseva with 2-1 (6:4, 2:6, 7:6), after recovering from an early break passive in the decisive third set. Paula Badosa secured the victory after 2-1 (6:2, 3:6, 6:4) win over the Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Paula Badosa trailed 1:3 game in the third part, but made a comeback. In the doubles match, Paula Badosa and Aliona Bolsova defeated Yulia Putintseva and Anna Danilina by 2-0 (6:4, 6:2). Kazakhstan crashed out of the competition with a win and a loss, while Spain and Great Britain will play in a head-to-head clash for top spot, with the Iberians needing just one win from their three games to qualify for the semi-finals.
