(Reuters) – Belinda Bencic led Switzerland to victory over Italy in their opening Billie Jean King Cup tie on Wednesday while Slovakia bounced back from a tough loss to Australia to defeat Belgium and get their campaign back on track.
Olympic champion Bencic, the world number 12, saw off Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-3 to secure the Group A tie for Switzerland after Jil Teichmann saved a match point en route to her thrilling 6-3 4-6 7-6(5) win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Bencic returned to court half an hour later to team up with Teichmann and wrap up a flawless day for last year’s finalists as they beat Paolini and Martina Trevisan 7-6(5) 6-1 to complete a 3-0 sweep.
Earlier, Viktoria Kuzmova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova won their singles ties to help secure a 2-1 victory over Belgium in their final Group B tie.
Kuzmova had lost to Ajla Tomljanovic on Wednesday but bagged a valuable doubles point with Tereza Mihalikova, and she carried that momentum into her powerful 6-2 7-6(7) win over Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium.
Schmiedlova sealed the tie for Slovakia in a tenacious 5-7 6-2 6-3 win over Maryna Zanevska before the doubles pairing of Elise Mertens and Kirsten Flipkens got Belgium on the board with a crushing 6-0 6-3 win over Kuzmova and Mihalikova.
The competition, formerly called the Fed Cup, was renamed in honour of the 12-times American Grand Slam champion and restructured into a format concluding with 12 nations competing over one week for the title.
The United States will take on Poland in Group D while Spain face Kazakhstan in Group C later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
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