By Tony Fairbairn
- Anne Keothavong said the team was ‘gutted’ after falling short of their first Billie Jean King Cup in 43 years.
- Great Britain defeated Germany and Canada to get to the semi-finals but lost to Slovakia in the last four.
MALAGA, SPAIN – Anne Keothavong has spoke about Great Britain’s gutting semi-final defeat to Slovakia at the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals.
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After an encouraging start to the week in Malaga, Great Britain suffered a heart-breaking semi-final defeat to Slovakia as a lack of doubles experience proved to be the team’s downfall. The team was in confident mood heading into their opening round match against Germany on Friday and that proved to be the case as they cruised past the Germans.
The dynamic duo of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter were ruthless in singles all week as they dispatched Jule Niemeier and Laura Siegemund rather comfortably. Raducanu dominated the majority of the match but was nervy in pressure moments as she was broken in both sets before completing a 6-4 6-4 win. However Boulter was not hesitant as she dominated Siegemund from the back of the court to complete a 6-1 6-2 win and seal victory for Great Britain.
Next up was a quarter-final meeting with defending champions Canada as Boulter and Raducanu continued their impressive form. The first rubber saw Raducanu take on the tricky Rebecca Marino but the former US Open champion showed no signs of struggling as she completed a 28 minute bagel.
In the second set, Marino showed the type of qualities that saw her play a pivotal part in Canada’s win last year. After a clinical opening set, Raducanu had struggled to break down Marino’s variety as well as big serving with the Canadian playing much better in the second set. However Raducanu continued her massive return winners and broke in the eleventh game before serving out a 6-0 7-5 win.
That win meant Boulter had the opportunity to send Britain into a significant semi-final appearance as the British number one took on Leylah Fernandez in the second rubber. It was a nervy start from both players with a lot on the line but Boulter eventually found her groove to take the opening set 6-2.
The Brit continued that domination into the second set but found it hard to close the match out with Fernandez closing the gap from 5-2 to 5-4. However Boulter came through to seal Britain’s second semi-final in three years at the Billie Jean King Cup.
Now Anne Keothavong’s side had a golden opportunity to reach their first final in 43 years when they took on Slovakia. Although the Slovakians had no star players, they had already proved themselves to be an effective indoor hard court team having knocked out USA and Australia already in Malaga. Despite Slovakia’s form, Raducanu continued to knock down winners as she took on Viktoria Hruncakova in the first rubber. The British number two went a quick double break up before being pegged back by the aggressive Slovakian. However Raducanu wrapped up a 50 minute set as she continued her impressive form from this week.
In the second set Hrucakova made a much more effective start on serve as she held in her first couple of service games and tested Raducanu’s serve. However the British number two once again found her best form on return as she took a double break lead at 5-2. Just like the first set Hruncakova found her best form when her back was against the wall and pulled one of the breaks back. Eventually Raducanu closed out a big win to put Britain on the brink of the final.
Next up it was Boulter’s turn as she took on Slovakian number one Rebecca Sramkova. There was a nervy start from both players before Boulter zoned in on her forehand to take a double break advantage at 5-2. After a long service game, Boulter completed the set with an ace as she was in control of this match.
That control didn’t last for long though as Sramkova started to find her confidence from the baseline and broke on two occasions to take a 4-1 lead in the second set. There was a look of worry on Boulter’s face but she managed to turn that into a turnaround in the scoreboard as she secured the break back in the seventh game. The intensity and quality continued to increase as the set went on but it was Sramkova who found her game when she needed it most to break in the tenth game, forcing a deciding set.
In the final set, the tension was immense especially in the fourth game when Sramkova nailed a backhand winner on the run to take the first break of the set and secure a 3-1 lead. There was a strong response from a resilient Boulter who broke immediately back as both players showed incredible mental strength and passion in this tense match. In the end Boulter did not show aggressive enough tennis in the big points as Sramkova broke in the tenth game to send this match to a final rubber.
That was Britain’s first rubber loss of the week and would now have to rely on the new team of Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson as they took on Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova. Unlike Nicholls and Watson, Hruncakova and Mihalikova had match experience this week as they won their doubles rubber against USA with that being on show here.
The British team were never really in the match as they were thrashed 6-2 6-2 by the Slovakian duo and Britain’s hopes of a first final in 43 years would have to wait even longer.
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Keothavong ‘gutted’ over semi-final heartbreak
So the wait for a first final in 43 years continues as a winnable tie against Slovakia turned into a losable one.
It was an encouraging week but ultimately ended in disappointment as this will feel like a huge opportunity lost.
Speaking after the semi-final defeat Keothavong admitted the team was ‘gutted’ and it was too soon to reflect on the positives.
“Gutted. I think we’re all absolutely gutted. We came into this event really believing that we had a good shot at it, and unfortunately we fell short,” Keothavong told The Guardian.
“We came up against a better team. But it’s still pretty raw right now. It’s quite difficult to find the right words. It just hurts right now. Yes, I think I can take confidence from the fact that we’ve got incredible players in the UK. We’ve shown with our best players what’s possible. We came close.
“It wasn’t to be on this occasion, but that’s not to say next year – whether it’s next year or the year after, we’re going to have chances in this competition. I do really believe that.”
Meanwhile as for Boulter the British number one pointed to her serve as the reason for losing her singles rubber as she was emotional after the match.
“I felt like I started to struggle a little bit on serve. That basically was the match for me. I was still there fighting, giving everything I possibly could, but ultimately I didn’t serve well enough, which kind of cost me the match,” Boulter explained to The Guardian.
“But credit to her. She played some very good tennis and started to adapt from the way I was playing in the first set and, I mean, it’s natural for players to do that. I couldn’t dig it out in the end, but I gave it everything I got.”
One of the positives of the week were Raducanu’s form as she won six consecutive sets in the three matches she played. The former US Open champion reflected on the positives ahead of a big season next year.
“There are a lot of positives for me to take individually,” Raducanu admitted to The Guardian.
“I think I did pretty well, and it was obviously made a lot easier by having a great team behind me. Everyone was really working to help each other and push each other to do better.”
Now Britain will go through a round-robin qualifiers format in April where they will have to win their group in order to progress to next year’s finals.
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