Paolini on her comeback against Svitolina: "I don't know how I managed to turn things around"
As she seemed doomed against an imperious Svitolina, Paolini pulled off a stunning comeback, supported by her bench and her captain. Result: Italy will play a 3rd consecutive final in the BJK Cup and can dream of a historic double.
Italy on the way to a double? The defending champions escaped the clutches of Ukraine on Friday in the BJK Cup semi-final, with a spectacular victory by Jasmine Paolini, who was down 6-4, 4-2 against Elina Svitolina.
On the brink of elimination, the Italian No.1 turned the tide (3-6, 6-4, 6-4) as she did in her singles match against Xinyu Wang in the quarterfinal. She then teamed up again in doubles with Sara Errani to send Italy to the finals for the third year in a row.
A hard-fought success that was described by Paolini in a press conference:
"I don't know how I managed to turn things around, but I did it. I held my own on every point. This time, I might have been a bit luckier than she was. The last time I played her (Svitolina), I lost after having a match point.
That's tennis, it happens. This time, I'm happy to have found solutions to beat her. She's a great player, she's very strong. Each time, it's a real battle against her. It wasn't easy.
I have to thank the bench and of course, the captain who encouraged me throughout the match. I'm very happy that we managed to win this match."
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