Great Britain’s hopes of causing an upset in their opening contest against Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup finals ended with defeats for Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart.
Britain were given a place in the finals as hosts after the Lawn Tennis Association stepped in to stage the event at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Yet without the injured Emma Raducanu lack the strength of nearly all the other teams.
They spoke with confidence on Monday about their chances of using home advantage to spring a surprise but Boulter’s 4-6 6-3 6-2 loss to the feisty Yulia Putintseva was a big blow and Dart was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
They could yet still qualify with victory over Spain on Thursday but that will be a dead rubber if Kazakhstan win their match against the Spaniards on Wednesday.
The Kazakhs could even claim the noisiest supporters, with their loyal band of followers out-performing the sparse British crowd.