Italy were strong-headed in their ongoing campaign of the Billie Jean King Cup 2026. On Saturday, April 12, the two-time defending champions proved decisive as they secured their entry into the finals. The United States was defeated by Belgium. Meanwhile, Ukraine, Spain, Britain, the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan have also advanced. USA, the 2025 runner-up, were beaten by Belgium 3-1.
For Italy, it was Olympic champions Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini who sealed the for the team. The duo defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi on clay at Velletri, south of Rome by 6-2, 7-5. Paolini and Elisabetta Cocciaretto gave the hosts an overnight advantage of 2-0.
After Caty McNally and Nicole Melichar’s doubles win, USA got themselves back into the tie and both lost both their singles matches on Friday, April 10. Belgium booked their finals spot through Greetje Minnen who defeated World No. 16 Iva Jovic by 7-5, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage won the doubles event to lead Britain over Australia. Britain had started the day with a 2-0 lead after Mika Stojsavljevic upset Talia Gibson and Dart secured Kimberly Birrell on day one. Australia’s Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez failed to get a must-win clash in Melbourne after losing by 6-3, 6-4.
The event was a miss for Britain’s top stars Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Fran Jones, and Sonay Kartal. Kartal was injured, while the others were preparing for the European clay-court season. Marie Bouzkova gave the Czechs a brilliant win after defeating Viktorija Golubic by 3-2.
Ukraine’s twins Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok got a decisive 3-0 lead in the doubles. Meanwhile, Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina won their respective singles matches on Friday.
Spain’s Aliona Bolsova and Sara Sorribes Tormo won the doubles, while Kaitlin Quevedo edged past Veronika Erjavec to seal the win by 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada lost her reverse singles tie match to Yulia Putintseva by 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4). Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva defeated Andreescu and Cross in Saturday’s doubles by 7-5, 6-1. With that Kazakhstan went 3-1 against Canada.
