SHENZHEN, China -- Elina Svitolina slammed her racket on the court to celebrate earning Ukraine a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time Saturday.
The seventh-ranked Svitolina had plenty of emotions running through her mind after she beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2 to seal a 2-0 victory over two-time defending champion Italy in the semifinals of the women's tennis team event.
There was a semifinal match that Svitolina lost to Paolini in last year's competition. And Svitolina has been one of Ukraine's highest-profile athletes to raise their political voice about Russia's invasion of their country.
"Just a really special moment for us, for Ukraine," Svitolina said. "We are going through difficult times back home -- all the people. It's just unbelievable to get for the first time in a final."
At this stage last year, Svitolina was a set and 4-2 up before Paolini came back to beat her.
"It was a really tough loss for me last year here," Svitolina said. "So I really had to be focused and really step up my game."
Paolini was on a 10-match winning streak in the competition.
Earlier, Anhelina Kalinina had put Ukraine ahead 1-0 by beating Tyra Caterina Grant 6-3, 6-4 in Grant's competition debut.
In Sunday's final, Ukraine will face Czechia, which is led by Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova and No. 1 doubles player Katerina Siniakova.
Czechia beat Spain 2-0 in their semifinal Friday and also shut out Britain 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
Ukraine beat Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
Czechia stands second all time with 11 titles in the competition previously called Fed Cup. The United States, which did not qualify for the finals, has won a record 18 titles.