Svitolina shines as Ukraine beat Spain to enter Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals

Ukraine reached the semifinals of the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time with gritty performances from Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk against Spain on Wednesday.

- 

Svitolina defeated Paula Badosa 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to wrap up the quarterfinal tie for Ukraine in the women’s team competition.

Kostyuk beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 earlier in the day in Shenzhen.

The Ukrainians will now take on defending champions Italy on Friday.

"I had to really dig deep for this win," said Svitolina, the world number 13.

"I'm super-pleased with the team performance, not only my performance today, because you know it takes a lot of people.

"All the guys here in the tracksuits of Ukraine, and the crowd as well made it really special for us today.

"It was a really important point, not only for our team but also for our country for the first time to be in the semifinals."

The Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre holds good memories for Svitolina, who reached the championship match of the prestigious WTA Finals when they were held there in 2019.

Badosa was playing her first match since Wimbledon, having been sidelined with a back injury.