A sensation in Magda Linette’s match. The fate of the national team is in the hands of Iga Świątek

On Monday, late afternoon, tennis players seven years apart in age faced each other. However, Magda Linette is the more experienced player. Suffice it to say that the Poznań player made her debut in the Polish national team thirteen years ago.

Magda Linette – Lucia Bronzetti. A surprising defeat of the Polish woman against the Italian

Linette played a marathon match in the 1/8 finals, spending almost four hours on the court, but ultimately winning against the Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo. This was the first triumph of the Poznań player in five previous battles with this rival.

In Saturday’s quarterfinal, team captain Dawid Celt spared the most experienced singles player in the team, sending Magdalena Fręch, Poland’s second rocket, into the fight. The Poznań native returned to the game in the semi-final, and Lucia Bronzetti stood on the other side of the net. Quite unexpectedly, because he made his debut in this year’s Billie Jean King Cup event. However, it turned out that it was a hit on the part of the Italian staff.

Last year’s BJKC finalists could have been satisfied with the debutant. From the very beginning of the match with Linette, Bronzetti was closer to matching her rival’s serve. This was achieved relatively quickly, in the third game (1:2). Linette, however, did not intend to give up and redeemed herself in the sixth set (3:3). Unfortunately, the Italian responded with a return break in the next game (3:4), finally winning the set in 43 minutes.

If we add the opening of the next set and a 2-0 break for Bronzetti, the Polish woman’s situation was already very difficult. And it was super difficult when the Italian made a similar break and it became 4:1. Linette stood on the precipice.

However, the Pole fought until the very end. Linette managed to score her second break in the match. Adding his own service game, it was only 4:3 for Bronzetti. In just 12 minutes, from 1-4, Linette equalized the score to 4-4, breaking the Italian and taking control.

Bronzetti lost her fourth game in a row and the Pole was 5-4 in the second game. However, the Italian made her team happy, after 51 minutes of set number two, leading to a draw 5:5. The level of the match, just like its stakes, increased with each subsequent bounce. Both tennis players reached the tie-break six minutes later.

Linette had to chase from the very beginning. It started from 0:2 with a mini-break. At the change of ends, after six points, the Pole did not reduce her losses (2:4). What’s worse, Bronzetti added two more small breaks (2:6) and reached the finish line successfully. The less experienced tennis player ultimately won the tie-break 7:3.

The Poznań player cannot be denied ambition, but in the end she lost two games. This is a bit surprising, considering that Bronzetti is only the number 78 tennis player in the world. So certainly within Linette’s reach. The Poznań player clearly felt strongly about what happened in the match against Sorribes Tormo, although the second set – its final phase – gave hope for three sets of the battle. However, Bronzetti did not let go of what she had previously achieved.

Just like in the match against the Czechs, everything is in the hands of Iga Świątek again. The Pole will play in the second singles competition against the Italians. This will be a match worthy of the BJKC semi-final. Opposite Świątek will be Jasmine Paolini, an Italian with Polish roots. In terms of rankings, it will be a match between the number two and four in the world.

The match between Iga Świątek and Jasmine Paolini begins several dozen minutes after the last ball of the match between Bronzetti and Linette.

Broadcasts from the competition in the BJKC final tournament can be watched on TVP Sport. You can follow the tennis players’ national team activities online on the official television website, mobile application, Smart TV, and HbbTV.

Historic success of the Polish national team in the Billie Jean King Cup!

Thanks to Saturday’s victory over the Czechs, the Polish tennis team made history by advancing to the semi-finals. Poland made its debut in the competition in the era of the so-called amateur tennis, specifically in 1966, reaching the second round. Until 2024, the Polish women’s best result was the quarterfinal in 1992 (the team leader was Katarzyna Nowak at that time) and the 2015 edition, with the participation of Agnieszka Radwańska.

It is also worth adding that the current name, i.e. Billie Jean King Cup, has been in operation since 2020. Previously, the competition, modeled on the men’s Davis Cup, was called the Federation Cup and Fed Cup. The result achieved in the 2024 finals in Malaga is therefore a reason for great satisfaction for the Polish women.

The defending champions of 2023 are the Canadians, who defeated the Italians 2-0 in the title match. Already after the results of the quarterfinals (Canada was eliminated by Great Britain), it is known that in this context there will be a change and BJKC will have new champions.