Great Britain lost in the quarter-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, with the underdogs unable to withstand a high-powered Czech side at the Finals in Shenzhen.
Sonay Kartal was narrowly beaten in her first match after a six-month injury layoff, falling in three tight sets over a marathon three-hour encounter with Marie Bouzkova, 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-4.
That put the pressure on British No 1 Katie Boulter in a must-win tie with Olympic champion and world No 6 Linda Noskova, but she was unable to cause an upset in a 6-2 7-6(3) defeat.
Anne Keothavong’s GB team were given a tough quarter-final draw, with all five players in the Czech squad ranked higher in singles than their British counterparts. Czechia are the only team in the eight-strong Billie Jean King Cup Finals to feature two top-10 players, Noskova and world No 8 Karolina Muchova.
The 2-0 scoreline meant the dead-rubber doubles match did not take place, but if it had GB would likely have faced doubles world No 1 Katerina Siniakova, who has won 11 grand slam titles in women’s doubles and recently claimed the US Open crown for a second time.
GB’s defeat in the best-of-three tie condemned them to their earliest exit since 2023, while their wait for a first title in the ‘World Cup’ of women’s tennis goes on.
But there were encouraging signs, particularly for world No 127 Kartal, who has missed most of this season with a stress fracture in her lower back but put in a trademark display of resilience against a player ranked 101 places above her. The 24-year-old saved three match points and broke the Bouzkova serve but was unable to hold off the Czech in the closing stages.
Later on there was little Boulter could do - despite a spirited fightback in the second set - as in-form Noskova fired in 15 aces and landed 71% of her first serves.
Barbora Strycova’s Czechia, who have won the tournament 11 times and are favourites to win it for the first time since 2018, will face either Kazakhstan - who are missing new US Open champion and world No 1 Elena Rybakina - or Spain in the semi-finals.
