Poland vs Italy Prediction Billie Jean King Cup Finals Tennis Picks 11/18/24

Poland advanced into its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup semifinals at the expense of 11-time champions Czechia. Iga Swiatek rose to the challenge when her country needed her to, with two wins.

Magdalena Frech, brought in to replace the injured Magda Linette, lost the first singles match against Marie Bouzkova. But Swiatek leveled the tie in an entertaining match against Linda Noskova, winning 7-5 in the third.

The tie was decided in doubles, and Poland's team captain, Dawid Celt, made the all-important change to include Swiatek instead of Frech to partner birthday girl Katarzyna Kawa. The duo combined to great effect to beat the talented doubles No. 1 Katerina Siniakova and Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4 past midnight local time.

Italy Billie Jean King Cup Team Facts

Italy only needed to win one tie to reach the semifinal courtesy of being seeded. Last year's runners-up also required a 2-1 win over Japan. 

Like Poland, they need their star player, Jasmine Paolini, to step up to the plate in both singles and doubles. 

Elisabetta Cocciaretto lost the opening singles match in the tie to Ena Shibahara. But it was the two-time Grand Slam finalist Paolini who took matters into her hands to drag Italy to the last four.

Paolini won her singles match against Moyuka Uchijima, then partnered her friend Sara Errani to defeat the team of Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi 6-3, 6-4.

Poland vs Italy Billie Jean King Cup Head-To-Head

• Italy defeated Poland 2-1 in their only ever meeting in this competition in 1988 at Flinders Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Poland vs Italy Billie Jean King Cup Prediction

Poland has defied the odds and is now instilled as the pre-match favorites for the tie. Iga Swiatek's presence is proving to be such an effective addition to their team, and the general feeling is that whoever beats Poland from this stage will now win the title. Nullifying Swiatek in the tie is Italy's best-case scenario. And like we saw in the win over Czechia, Swiatek can play doubles tennis too, even against the elite players in that discipline. So, if this tie stretched to a third rubber, Poland will probably find a winning edge, but I reckon they'll settle it in singles.