Kasatkina's confidence and Samsonova's insolence: how the Russian national tennis team won the Billie Jean King Cup

The Federation Tennis Cup, which changed its name to the Billie Jean King Cup, was at one time considered almost a pocket tournament for the Russian women's team. In the mid-2000s, it was an almost unbeatable team, winning the trophy four times in five years. But this dominance disappeared as quickly as it began. After 2008, Russian tennis players reached the final three times, but they never won more titles. The last time they were one step away from the championship was in 2015, but then even the arrival of Maria Sharapova to the team did not help to beat the Czech national team at the Prague O2-Arena.

Six years later, history has practically repeated itself.

The Russians again went through the entire tournament without defeat and reached the final, which was held on the same court in the Czech capital.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova even appeared in the team again.

But the opponent was already completely different.

Instead of the Czech team, which along with the Russian was considered the main favorite of the tournament, the Swiss national team made it to the decisive stage.

She just knocked out the hostesses of the competition at the group stage, after which she became a Cup finalist for the second time in her history.

The final series was opened by the match of Daria Kasatkina with one of the discoveries of the updated tournament - Gil Teikhman.

The 39th racket of the world played phenomenally both in tandem with the leader of the team Belinda Bencic, and alone.

Suffice it to say that the 24-year-old tennis player has never played more than three games in a set.

However, the same could be said about Kasatkina, but before the decisive match she went to court only once.

At the same time, the Russian woman did not experience a lack of playing practice.

She started the match with Teichman with a zero break, after which she won four more games in a row.

The Swiss managed only to avoid the "steering wheel", taking once someone else's and his own serve.

After that, Kasatkina realized a triple setball on the first try.

There was no such defeat in the second game.

At the reception of Kasatkina, it became noticeably more difficult, and for a long time she had no chance to attack.

But when the struggle became more stubborn, it was obvious that the nerves of the Russian tennis player were stronger.

With a score of 6: 4, she won the second set and brought the first point out of two needed to win the final.

She does it in straight sets!

⚡️ @ DKasatkina defeats Jil Teichmann 6⃣-2⃣ 6⃣-4⃣ in the first match of the final # BJKCupFinalspic.twitter.com / MemrwJR3a8

- Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) November 6, 2021

The next match was originally intended for the first numbers of their national teams.

Olympic champion Benchich was supposed to confront Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but the 12th racket of the world did not enter the court.

Two hours before the match, it became known that the Roland Garros finalist had suffered a knee injury.

Lyudmila Samsonova had to play instead, and Andreev's choice had its own logic. This season, the 22-year-old Russian, who previously represented Italy, met and beat Benchich twice, while occupying lower places in the WTA rankings. One of the victories took place in the final of the June tournament in Berlin, which brought Samsonova her first professional title. But on the eve of their third meeting, the native of Olenegorsk spent five sets on the courts of the O2-Arena, and this could have a negative impact on her game in the final.

At first, the match was going well for Samsonova.

After the exchange of games, she made a break, but then she could not keep her serve.

She made two double mistakes in a row, after which she could not recoup.

To tune in for the second serve, Samsonova minted the ball for a very long time, which greatly pissed Benchich out of herself.

It got to the point that she even complained to the judge about the Russian woman, although she acted within the framework of the rules.

In the end, the Swiss could not stand it, and in the eighth game she simply turned away to fix her wristband when Samsonova put the ball into play for the second time.

The rally remained for Benchich, who quickly made a break and won four points when serving for the set.

During the break, the tournament supervisor warned that next time she would be punished for delaying the time, to which the Olympic champion reacted with undisguised indignation.

Samsonova in the lost set should be blamed primarily on herself, since she made 16 unforced mistakes in it against three of her opponent.

The Russian woman also had enough misfires at the beginning of the second game, in which passions heated up again due to the long minting.

Benchich continued to speak in a raised voice with the judge, demanding to stop this.

The game stretched out for ten minutes, during which time Samsonova played four break points and still put an end to the ace.

In the next four games, the girls firmly held their feeds.

The turning point came when the score was 3: 2 in favor of Samsonova.

The Russian started playing at speeds that Benchich could not maintain at the beginning of the second hour of the game.

Such tennis was very suitable for the 40th racket of the world, and even if she was wrong, she immediately recouped.

Samsonova made a key break and held the lead until the end of the game.

It's all square as @LiudaSamsonova takes the second set 6⃣-3⃣

A strong shot as the match moves into a decider # BJKCupFinalspic.twitter.com / LVjkZwxJTr

- Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) November 6, 2021

The first game of the third set was a continuation of the previous one.

In it, Samsonov skillfully forced Benchich to make mistakes, or she herself performed non-beating blows.

It began to seem that the Russian woman had caught the courage, on which she could easily end the match in favor of her team, but the Swiss had not yet surrendered.

Benchich heroically won the third game with three break points.

This really cooled Samsonova, who no longer seriously encroached on someone else's serve, but held her own with some difficulty.

She began to save energy and play less relaxed, but that was exactly what she needed in order to maintain concentration by the middle of the third hour.

When Samsonova earned a double matchball, she did not miss her chance.

The moment RTF sealed their fifth Billie Jean King Cup title!

👏 # BJKCupFinalspic.twitter.com / gz8FmctnyI

- Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) November 6, 2021

The Russian national team became the first winner of the Billie Jean King Cup, and, taking into account the Federation Cup, celebrated the fifth victory in the tournament and the first since 2008.

This made it possible to bypass Italy in the list of the most titled teams and catch up with Spain, which occupies the fourth line after the USA (18 wins), the Czech Republic (11) and Australia (7).