Paolini stars as Italy rally past China to reach Billie Jean King Cup semis

Italy fell behind when Zhang Shuai beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-0, 6-2 in front of a partisan home crowd, leaving the two-time defending champions facing elimination.

Paolini then levelled the tie by defeating Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 7-6 (4), extending her winning streak in the competition to nine consecutive matches.

The world No. 8 returned to the court alongside Sara Errani for the decisive doubles rubber, where the pair beat Guo Hanyu and Jiang Xinyu 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to seal Italy's place in the last four.

Italy will face Ukraine in the semifinals for the second consecutive year. The semifinal is scheduled for Saturday, with the final to follow on Sunday.

Ukraine also rallied to reach the semifinals, beating Belgium 2-1 after Greet Minnen stunned seventh-ranked Elina Svitolina in the second singles match.

Svitolina took the opening set 7-6 (5), but Minnen, ranked 217th in the world, fought back to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-4 and force a deciding doubles rubber.

Anhelina Kalinina had put Ukraine ahead by beating Jana Otzipka 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-1.

Kalinina then teamed up with Lyudmyla Kichenok to beat Magali Kempen and Lara Salden 6-3, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match.

Spain had already booked its place in the semifinals earlier in the week with a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan.

The Spaniards will face the Czech Republic on Friday after the Czechs defeated Britain 2-0 in their quarterfinal.

The Czech Republic are chasing a 12th title in the competition, which was formerly known as the Fed Cup. The United States hold the record with 18 titles but failed to qualify for this year's finals.

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