Billie Jean King Cup: "Shitty, ugly, dirty" - Swiss displeasure after losing the final
After the lost Billie Jean King Cup final, there was resentment on the part of Switzerland. The reason for this was a short-term swap at the final opponent Russia.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Nov 08, 2021, 07:56 am
Great excitement in Switzerland after the Billie Jean King Cup final in Prague: Russia's team captain Igor Andreev changed the line-up around 20 minutes before the start of the final and replaced his number one Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with Liudmila Samsonova - officially due to a Knee injury to the French Open finalist.
Interesting detail: Samsonova had already beaten Bencic twice in 2021 before the third duel in Prague. "The Russians seem to have known that too," said the reigning Olympic champion after her three-set defeat.
Team captain Günthardt "not amused"
The late change in the line-up was "ugly," said Bencic. Jil Teichmann, who had lost the first match against Daria Kasatkina in two straight sets and described the short-term exchange as "dirty", hit a similar line.
Team captain Heinz Günthardt expressed himself even more clearly to the "SRF". Either Pavlyuchenkova's injury was "bad luck": "Or it is simply shitty."
"I didn't even know that you could manipulate the list with so little effort and replace number one with number five," continued Günthardt. "The suspicion that something was wrong arose immediately." The decision of the Russians was "like a swallow in football," summed up the 62-year-old.
Set of rules covers the procedure
In the Russian camp, in view of the triumph, one might see it quite differently. Especially since the action was covered by the rules. "If an independent doctor confirms that the player was injured after the nomination and therefore cannot compete, she can be replaced," it says in this.
After winning the title, at least Kasatkina didn't know anything about the diagnosed knee injury. "Great tiredness" was the reason for the change made. Pavlyuchenkova himself said he felt "not fit". What remains is at least a bad aftertaste.