By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, September 21, 2025
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty
The United States came up short in its bid for a record-setting 19th Billie Jean King Cup championship.
Defending champion Italy, powered by singles wins from Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Jasmine Paolini, swept all four sets defeating the United States 2-0 in today’s Billie Jean King Cup final at Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre Arena in Shenzhen, China.
Winless in five prior meetings vs. Jessica Pegula, Paolini enacted revenge with a 6-4, 6-2 win today to seal Italy’s sixth Billie Jean King Cup crown.
Afterward, U.S. Captain Lindsay Davenport, who was bidding to become one of the few to win the BJK Cup as both a player and a captain, said her squad will be back for another run at the championship.
Every team is so tough here. I mean, we were match points down in our first match against Kazakhstan. If Emma [Navarro] doesn’t beat Putintseva, who knows what happens.
“But happy that we made a great run here. We felt like we had a great opportunity today. But, man, both of those ladies played great tennis. Congratulations to them.”
Davenport said she’s hoping the USA, which was without Australian Open champion Madison Keys and Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff, will take another shot at the Cup in 2026.
“We’ll just keep trying,” Davenport said. “We’ll get another chance hopefully next year to be back here in Shenzhen. We’ll hopefully learn from today. Hopefully these players go on to play great in the rest of the year.
“I look forward to watching the year play out for all the Americans. Yeah, it’s been a great week. Tough day, but a great week.”
