Jasmine Paolini and Italy beat Slovakia to win the Billie Jean King Cup

AP Tennis Writer

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini has capped a breakthrough season by leading Italy to its first Billie Jean King Cup title since 2013. Paolini defeated Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 to seal a 2-0 victory over Slovakia in the final of the women’s team competition in Malaga, Spain. The No. 4-ranked Paolini was the runner-up at the French Open in June and at Wimbledon in July. Before this year, Paolini, who is 28, had lost in the first or second round in all 16 career appearances at majors. Lucia Bronzetti beat Viktoria Hruncakova 6-2, 6-4 in the first match of the best-of-three final on Wednesday.