Italy bests China in BJK Cup Finals, as deep US Open run takes its toll on Zheng

Team China was left to rue its missed chances after squandering an early lead to lose to Italy at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, as star ace Zheng Qinwen struggled to maintain her resurgent momentum from the US Open.

Despite a flying start, powered by veteran Zhang Shuai's opening singles victory, Team China's ambitions of winning a first BJK Cup Finals crown on home court took a heavy blow after losing the following singles match, and then the deciding doubles rubber, to the two-time defending champion at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on Thursday.

China's 37-year-old evergreen Zhang started off with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 rout of Italy's 67th-ranked Elisabetta Cocciaretto on her return to the BJK Cup Finals, bringing the Shenzhen crowd to their feet and leaving them looking forward to a triumphant night on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Zhang, who last represented her country at the women's tennis "World Cup" in 2021, dictated play from the get-go, with crisp baseline strikes and rock-solid serves, dropping only two games against a deflated Cocciaretto and really throwing down a gauntlet to an Italian team led by world No 20 Jasmine Paolini.

"I might look calm out there, but I felt the fire burning inside," Zhang said of her pride of playing for China in the team championship.

"It's a long time since I last played for my country in front of home fans, so I cherish this opportunity to represent Team China. I am grateful for all the energy the Shenzhen crowd gave me. Their support pushed me through."

As proud as her senior teammate, Zheng never hesitated in answering her nation's call to face Paolini in the second singles match, yet a demanding itinerary over the past two weeks, after her arduous US Open campaign — from qualifying to the quarters — which was followed by a training camp in Barcelona, apparently took its toll.

The reigning Olympic champion, and the host's highest-ranked player at No 52, struggled to bring out her best, due to fatigue, a cold she caught earlier and an apparent lack of sleep, losing to Paolini 6-3, 7-6 (4) to allow Italy to level it at 1-1 after two singles rubbers.

The energetic, pint-sized Italian star piled on the misery for the home support by teaming up with Sara Errani to beat Chinese duo Guo Hanyu and Jiang Xinyu 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the decider to advance Italy into the semis and keep alive its hopes of winning a third straight crown.

Zheng revealed at her post-match news conference that she'd been battling with the physical toll of her New York run for days in the run-up to the Paolini match, and even considered withdrawing.

"I started to feel unwell during training two days ago, and even I thought about whether I should play," Zheng said after her singles loss on Thursday night.

"I took painkillers just to be able to step onto the court, because I did not want to disappoint all the fans who came to watch.

"The wear and tear of the US Open drained a lot of my energy ... If this were a regular WTA Tour event, I would not have competed. But this is for my country, so I decided to play anyway," said Zheng.

"I did not show my best form today, while Paolini played really well, and she deserved this win. Now, my priority is on my recovery. I will rest and reset my body clock to prepare for the upcoming tournaments," said the former world No 4.

Next up for most of Team China's players will be the singles and doubles tennis tournaments at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the first-round action of which begins on Sunday.

Reigning Asian Games champion Zheng, however, has opted to skip the defense of her continental crown, instead staying home to tune up for the upcoming China Open WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.

Italy, meanwhile, will square off against Ukraine in Saturday's semis to compete for a final berth against either Czech Republic or Spain at the Shenzhen showpiece.