Fed Cup: Johanna Konta & Katie Boulter give Great Britain win over Slovenia
- From the section Tennis
| Fed Cup 2019 |
|---|
| Venue: University of Bath Dates: 6-9 February 2019 |
| Coverage: BBC website will have live text commentaries on selected GB matches from 16:30 GMT on Wed-Fri. |
Johanna Konta held her nerve to secure victory for Great Britain over Slovenia in their first home Fed Cup tie for 26 years.
Britain's world number 39 saved three set points in a tense first-set tie-break, before eventually beating Dalila Jakupovic 7-6 (9-7) 6-2.
Earlier, Katie Boulter gave GB a winning start by overcoming 18-year-old Kaja Juvan 6-4 6-2 in Bath.
Those wins gave GB an unassailable 2-0 lead in the round-robin tie.
GB are bidding to reach the World Group II play-offs for a third consecutive year.
There are eight teams - split into two groups - taking part in the Europe/Africa round-robin event in Bath between Wednesday and Saturday, with only one side able to progress to April's play-off event to fight for promotion to the second tier.
It took Konta an hour and 20 minutes to win a gripping first set against 27-year-old world number 86 Jakupovic, with both players exchanging multiple breaks of serve, before she produced a more commanding performance to take the second set.
That came after Leicester-born Boulter, who is at a career-high singles ranking of 83 in the world, dominated her rubber, cheered on by a sell-out crowd at the University of Bath's Sports Training Village.
"Being here is quite tremendous. Everyone showed so much support out there," said British number two Boulter, who was making her singles debut in the Fed Cup.
"I had a great team around me to help me with those nerves and put me in the right place mentally."
GB's Harriet Dart and Katie Swan will take on Jakupovic and Juvan in Wednesday evening's doubles, with British number three Heather Watson unavailable because of illness.
While the tie has already been won, the result of the doubles rubber could still be important in the final standings if teams are level.
Greece and Hungary make up the rest of Group A, with each team playing one round-robin fixture on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
On Saturday, the table-toppers will face the winners of Group B to decide who will progress from Bath to April's World Group II play-off.
Great Britain - ranked 18th in the world - are the favourites to top Group A, as they bid to end their long wait for a return to the second tier, having been outside the World Group since 1993.
