Billie Jean King Cup: Great victory for Papamicail and promotion of Greece to the first division

Despina Papamichael put her three straight defeats against Malta, Bosnia and Portugal behind her and saw off former world No. 2 Annette Kontaveit with an excellent performance 6-2, 6-4 2-0 for Greece against Estonia and at the same time sealed promotion to the 1st division of the Billie Jean King Cup.

The world No. 151 made an incredible start against Kontaveit, winning the first 5 games (5-0) and “breaking” the Estonian’s serve three times. The No. 69 in the world responded with a break to make it 5:1 and immediately made it 5:2 with her first hold.

However, that wasn’t enough to emphasize the magnificent Papamichael, who finished the set 6-2 after 37 minutes.

The 2nd leg of the match started with the Greek tennis player repressuring Kontaveit’s serve and finding a fresh break (1-0) while making it 2-0 with a difficult hold. Estonia responded by regaining their lost serve and combining with another difficult serve to level the game 2-2.

The crucial break for Papamichail came at the right time, particularly in game 9 when he took a 5-4 lead but also had the balls in hand to end the game, which he did with a relatively easy grab and the victory for the Greek team and promotion to the 1st category.

The foundation for the victory was laid by Valentini Grammatikopoulou, the most consistent Greek tennis player of the tournament, who defeated Elena Maligina (No. 374) 1-0 6-2, 6-4 and marked her 5th tournament win in a row.

Results

M. Monday 10 April

• Portugal 3-0 Israel
• Bosnia – Malta 2-1

M. Tuesday 11 April

• Greece 3-0 Israel
• Portugal 2-1 Malta

M. Wednesday 12 April

• Greece – Malta 2-1
• Bosnia – Portugal 1-2

M. Thursday 13 April

• Greece – Bosnia 2-1
• Israel-Malta 2-1

M. Friday 14 April

• Greece – Portugal 1-2
• Bosnia – Israel 3-0

program

M. Saturday 15 April

promotion games

• Portugal – Georgia
• Greece – Estonia

Places 5-8

• Bosnia-Kosovo
• Lithuania – Israel

relegation game

• Malta – South Africa

Final result (Group A)

1. Portugal: 4-0 (9-3)
2. Greece: 3: 1 (8: 4)
3. Bosnia: 2-2 (7-5)
4. Israel: 1-3 (2-10)
5. Malta: 0-4 (4-8)

Final score (Group B)

1. Estonia: 5-0 (14-1)
2. Georgia: 4-1 (10-5)
3. Lithuania: 3-2 (10-5)
4. Kosovo: 2-3 (5-10)
5. South Africa: 1-4 (3-12)
6. Ireland: 0-5 (3-12)

SOURCE: Tennis24