Korea Open: Iga Swiatek comes back to win final while Italy retain the Billie Jean King Cup

Iga Swiatek recovered from a first-set thrashing to complete a comeback victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova and win the Korea Open.

Alexandrova won the first set 6-1 as Swiatek struggled to capture the form that had propelled her to the final in Seoul but eventually found her form to win the second and third sets 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.

The two-and-a-half-hour final produced a third title victory for world No 2 Swiatek following her successes at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open.

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A relieved Swiatek said after the match that she 'did not know' how she had won and found time to joke that her win compensates for when her father was unable to win a medal with the Poland rowing team at the 1988 Olympics in South Korea.

"I'm happy that I could win here because of the family history," she said.

"My dad couldn't win the Olympics, but at least I won this tournament, so hopefully he's going to come here next year to enjoy everything."

And she added: "Honestly, I don't know how I won it, because you were just playing great. I just tried to stay alive.

"Hopefully, we're going to play more finals. It's always tough against you, so it's also entertaining."

'I tried my best and it wasn't enough'

It was a painful loss for Alexandrova, who won 11 points more than Swiatek and had the chance to break the Pole in the second set only to fail to capitalise on it, leading to a tie-break which she then lost.

The third set was another narrow affair, leaving Alexandrova - who is ranked 11 in the world - to reflect on what might have been.

"She's such a great player and it's always super difficult to play against her, so I tried to do my best today. It wasn't enough, so maybe next time I will be a little bit better," Alexandrova said.

Paolini shines as Italy outclass USA to retain BJK Cup

An inspired Italy successfully defended their Billie Jean King Cup with a 2-0 victory over record 18-time champions USA, taking their own tally in the competition to six titles.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Jasmine Paolini both won their singles matches to help their country triumph in Shenzhen and prolonged the American wait for another title after their previous success in 2017.

"It's been a really great week and it's always amazing to play in this competition. I just want to thank everybody, it was unbelievable," a beaming Paolini said.

"It was so tough, this year we played amazing teams, they are very strong and today against the United States, we didn't expect to win so we're really happy about this win.

"I don't know, it's even more special this year than last year. It's different, but honestly I didn't expect it."

Paolini's 6-4 6-2 victory was her maiden win in her sixth clash with Jessica Pegula and helped Italy become the first team to capture back-to-back titles since the Czech Republic lifted three straight trophies from 2014-16.

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