Roger Federer congratulates Switzerland's Billie Jean King Cup team for their 'historic' triumph
Switzerland's best tennis player in history, Roger Federer, has extended his heartfelt wishes to the country's women's team after they clinched the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup title on Sunday.
The Swiss legend, who recently retired from professional tennis, took to social media to congratulate the entire team. He tagged the four players — Belinda Bencic, Jil Teichmann, Viktorija Golubic, and Simona Waltert — and wrote "Hopp Schwiiz," a popular German phrase that translates to "Go Switzerland."
"History made! Congrats ladies on an incredible week. Hopppp Schwiiiz," Federer wrote on his Instagram stories.
After prevailing over the Czech Republic by 2-0 in the semifinals, last year's losing finalists Switzerland squared off against seven-time champions Australia in the summit clash. The Aussies reached the finals by eliminating Great Britain in the semifinals.
The format of the tournament requires a team to win two out of three matches (two singles and one doubles clash). There was no need for a third match as Switzerland's Teichmann and Bencic won their respective singles encounters.
In the first match, 35th-ranked Teichmann downed 239th-ranked Storm Sanders 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The second match, which was a must-win for Australia, saw the 33rd-ranked Ajla Tomljanovic face a crushing 6-2, 6-1 defeat against 12th-ranked Bencic, which crowned Switzerland as the new champion.
In an on-court interview after winning, the Swiss players revealed that they were devastated after losing the finals last year and were happy and proud to go all the way this time.
"We were finalists last year and we were so heartbroken after wrapping up the week. But in the locker room, Teichmann came to me and said, ‘Next year, we’re going to do it, we’re going to take it.’ And we did, I’m so proud," Bencic said.
“It was a great battle. Storm is playing very good the whole week, I was expecting a big fight. So here I was, getting the fight, and I’m super happy I got the point," Teichmann said.
Roger Federer shares photographs of Bencic and Teichmann's celebrations
Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka beat Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson 6–3, 6–4, 6–7(4), 6–3 to win the gold medal in the doubles category at the 2008 Summer Olympics and celebrated in a unique way once the match was over.
After Switzerland's women's team won the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup yesterday, Belinda Bencic and Jil Teichmann recreated the exact moment on the court. The 20-time Major winner shared both images, one from 2008 and the other from yesterday, along with a couple of laughing emojis on his Instagram stories.
