Switzerland wins Billie Jean King Cup for first time by sweeping Australia

In a year that saw Roger Federer retire, Switzerland is on top of the tennis world.

The Swiss women won the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time in their history, beating Australia 2-0 on Sunday evening in Glasgow, Scotland. It was an especially sweet triumph for Switzerland, which also reached the final in 2021 but lost to Russia.

It was also redemption for Belinda Bencic and Jil Teichmann, who were the two singles players in Sunday’s championship tie against Australia just as they were against Russia. Bencic and Teichmann made amends for the loss last fall, as this time around both players were victorious. After Teichmann opened with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Storm Sanders, Bencic clinched the trophy by defeating Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-1.

“We were finalists last year and we were so heartbroken,” Bencic reflected. “But in the locker room [Teichmann] came to me and said, ‘Next year, we’re going to do it; we’re going to take it.’ And we did. I’m so proud.”

“We didn’t win this just today,” Swiss captain Heinz Günthardt explained. “It was this week; it was actually over years — we tried to get better and better at it. You saw how many close points there were; who knows why we win some and lose some. A lot of it has to do with heart, and this team has a lot of heart.”

Australia is a seven-time champion of the event but has not won it since 1974.

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