Great Britain crashed out of the Billie Jean King Cup to Slovakia after blowing a golden chance to reach the final for the first time since 1981.
Emma Raducanu continued her hot streak on the Costa del Sol as she outclassed Slovakia’s world No.241 Viktoria Hruncakova 6-4 6-4 to win her third consecutive match here without dropping a set.
And British No.1 Katie Boulter then took the first set against Rebecca Sramkova in only 36 minutes to get within one set of the final.
But the world No.24 then lost 2-6 6-4 6-4 to the world No.43 – the first sets Anne Keothavong’s team had lost in the finals – to dramatically change the momentum of the tie.
It meant the semi-final was decided in the doubles in the first appearance of the tournament for Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls.
And the British pairing went down 6-2 6-2 to Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova in the decisive match. The Brits failed to break the Slovaks’ serve and were broken three times.
Hruncakova took her team’s second match point with a backhand volley winner.
It was played in front of a small crowd while the main arena in the same Palacio de Deportes complex staged Rafa Nadal in the first match of the men’s Davis Cup.
The 2002 champions Slovakia will now meet Jasmine Paolini’s Italy in Wednesday’s final.
And Britain’s wait to win this trophy – the World Cup tennis – will now extend to 62 years.
Raducanu, who ended the tournament unbeaten in her first event since September had set GB on the road to victory despite failing to serve out each set at 5-2.
“Every match is extremely challenging,” she said after her match.
“As the tournament progresses, it is more and more. And I think today was a really, really tough battle, because my opponent has a huge ball strike. And I think despite her ranking, she plays much above that, and especially on these courts, it really suits her. But I’m really pleased with how I composed myself and served it out in both sets.
“Both her sides come with extreme power. And I think if I gave her time to either side, she can really hit. It doesn’t matter where. So I think the tactic was to try and keep her moving and not let her just get the strike and the first strike in and make me run around. So think I did that well with my serving and starting the point. I’m really happy to have come through that, because I’ve actually lost to her before.”
Hruncakova, who made 26 unforced errors, had won their only previous meeting at the 2023 Auckland Open.
