GREAT Britain’s hopes of earning promotion in the Fed Cup came to an end with defeat to Belgium in their promotion play-off in Israel.
Belgium took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie with victories for Ysaline Bonaventure and Alison van Uytvanck over Katie Swan and Heather Watson respectively, with the dead-rubber doubles match not played.
Swan, who became Britain’s youngest Fed Cup player following Johanna Konta’s withdrawal, battled back from losing the first set to level the opening singles match against Bonaventure. However, the 16-year-old, who reached the Australian Open girls’ final in 2015, could not maintain the momentum and Bonaventure, who is ranked more than 360 places higher than Swan, eventually won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
“I was nervous through the whole match, I wasn’t playing well,” Bonaventure said. “I’m happy to win at the end.”
Watson also recovered from losing the opening set and was a break up in the decider before Van Uytvanck reeled off the last three games in succession to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
“I think she played well, she was so stable,” Van Uytvanck said. “It was very hard for me, but I kept fighting.”
Despite missing out on a World Group II play-off place in April, Great Britain captain Judy Murray praised her team, who had beaten South Africa and Georgia during the week.
“She acquitted herself incredibly well,” Murray said of debutant Swan. “She lost in three sets today to a player ranked over 350 places above her, so that was a huge positive.”
Speaking about Of Watson, Murray added: “It’s never easy to lead your team. For the second set and most of the third she played some exceptional tennis, way, way above her ranking. When it came to the end she got a little bit edgy and Van Uytvanck stayed strong and managed to come through it.”
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