Billie Jean King Cup match featuring Jasmine Paolini sets viewership record in Italy

Italian tennis superstar Jasmine Paolini wrapped up her breakthrough season with the Billie Jean King Cup title, as she led her country to another win at the historic international event.

Italy faced Slovakia in the final, with top star Paolini a driving force behind Italy's run during the competition. The 28-year old was coming off the best season of her career, reaching two Grand Slam finals and finishing the year at a career-high ranking of World No.4.

After overcoming an Iga Swiatek-led Poland in the semifinals, Italy took on surprise finalists Slovakia, who ousted Emma Raducanu and Great Britain in their semifinal encounter. The format requires a team to win two out of three matches, with the two singles matches occurring first before the deciding doubles rubber, if necessary.

Lucia Bronzetti took on Slovakia's Viktoria Hruncakova in the opening match, scoring a 6-2 6-4 win to give the Italians the lead. With one hand on the trophy, the chances of victory fell to Paolini, who took on Rebecca Sramkova in the second singles match.

According to statistics from SuperTennis TV, the channel that broadcasted the match for free in Italy, 1,534,222 viewers tuned in to see if Paolini could defeat her Slovakian opponent. This number set a new record for the most viewed women's match ever in the channel's history.

Nonetheless, the World No.4 finished the job, recording a 6-2 6-1 victory. This sent the entire nation into a frenzy, as Paolini's victory gave Italy their fifth Billie Jean King Cup title.