Russians win Billie Jean King Cup as Kasatkina and Samsonova sink Swiss hopes

After
Daria
Kasatkina
swept
to
a
6-2
6-4
win
over
Jil
Teichmann
to
put
the
Russians
ahead
against
Switzerland,
Samsonova
produced
a
high-quality
performance
to
win
3-6
6-3
6-4
against
Bencic.

It
meant
there
was
no
need
for
a
doubles
decider,
with
the
Russian
squad
taking
the
match
2-0.

Samsonova
had
not
expected
to
be
involved
in
the
singles
contest
in
Prague,
but
a
knee
problem
forced
Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova
to
pull
out
just
minutes
before
Saturday’s
final
got
under
way,
forcing
Russian
captain
Igor
Andreev
into
a
reshuffle.

A
worthy
substitute,
Samsonova
is
ranked
40th
in
the
world,
while
Bencic
sits
at
number
17,
and
this
win
was
the
Russian’s
third
victory
in
three
meetings
this
year
with
the
Tokyo
2020
gold
medallist.

One
of
those
came
in
the
final
of
the
Berlin
grass-court
tournament,
and
the
22-year-old
was
not
over-awed
by
another
big
occasion
this
time.

Just
as
she
did
in
Berlin,
Samsonova
lost
the
opening
set
but
then
dominated,
and
by
doing
so
she
secured
a
fifth
Russian
triumph
in
this
team
competition,
previously
known
as
the
Fed
Cup.

Samsonova
said:
“I
have
too
many
emotions
now.
It’s
unbelievable.
I’m
unbelievably
happy.
It
was
an
incredible
fight.
It
was
a
more
nervous
game.
It
was
more
than
tennis.”

It’s
been
13
years,
but
the
RTF
have
their
hands
back
on
the
Billie
Jean
King
Cup
????????#BJKCupFinals
pic.twitter.com/y5Ka23vubb

—
Billie
Jean
King
Cup
(@BJKCup)

November
6,
2021

Andreev
spoke
of
the
strong
bond
in
his
squad,
saying:
“It’s
an
historical
win
for
us.
It’s
been
a
long
time
without
any
trophies
in
team
tennis.
I’m
very
proud
and
very
happy
for
the
girls,
the
way
they
played.

“They’re
amazing,
they’re
heroes,
and
they
achieved
this
because
they’re
a
team
–
a
real
team
–
and
real
friends.”

Russia
dominated
this
event
from
2004
to
2008,
winning
four
of
five
titles,
while
Switzerland
had
only
previously
been
to
one
final,
when
Martina
Hingis
and
Patty
Schynder
were
outmatched
by
Arantxa
Sanchez
Vicario
and
Conchita
Martinez
in
the
1998
showpiece.