Great Britain miss out on opportunity to compete in the World Group for first time since 1993
Sunday 22 April 2018 11:22, UK
Great Britain missed out on promotion to Fed Cup World Group after Johanna Konta and Heather Watson suffered a decisive doubles defeat to Japan in Miki.
The top 2 British singles players partnered up but lost 3-6 6-3 6-3 to Miya Kato and Makoto Ninomiya in the final rubber and suffer a fourth promotion play-off defeat in seven years.
The British duo recovered from being broken in Watson's opening service game to secure the first set 6-3 but lost the second by the same scoreline despite a brief rally after falling 5-0 behind.
The third set began as a tight affair and after Konta saved three break points in the fifth game, Japan took the initiative with a break at the next available opportunity before the hosts held their never to close out the tie.
Konta had earlier left the tie all-square after the opening day's singles and made it back-to-back wins with an impressive 6-3 6-3 success against Naomi Osaka, before Watson succumbed to Kurumi Nara in a tightly fought contest.
British No 1 Konta moved Anne Koethavong's side to within one win of winning the tie after she maintained her unbeaten record against Osaka.
Konta took control after breaking her Japanese counterpart in the seventh game of the first set, which he won 6-3 and maintained her focus to secure a second break of the encounter in the sixth game of the second set before clinching the win on her second match point.
The fourth rubber saw Watson and Nara trade six breaks of serve before the Japanese No 2 saved three set points in the tie-break to steal the opener with a backhand winner.
Nara kept up her momentum in the early stages of the second set to move into a 3-0 lead, only for Watson to retrieve the break deficit but both players continued to struggle on serve, with Nara eventually securing victory at the second time of asking.
Coverage of the ATP Monte Carlo Rolex Masters final gets underway from 1.30pm on Sky Sports Arena on Sunday.
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