Emma Raducanu wins singles tie but Britain beaten in Billie Jean King Cup semi-final against Slovakia

Emma Raducanu’s third straight-sets win gave Great Britain the perfect start in their Billie Jean King Cup semi-final, but defeats for British No 1 Katie Boulter and doubles pair Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson secured Slovakia their spot in Wednesday’s final against Italy

Great Britain have been beaten 2-1 by Slovakia in the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup to be denied a first appearance in the final for 43 years.

Emma Raducanu got Team GB off to a winning start when defeating Viktoria Hruncakova 6-4 6-4 – her third consecutive straight-sets win in the Finals – but British No 1 Katie Boulter was beaten in the second singles rubber and Slovakia claimed the decisive doubles match.

Despite taking the opening set against world No 43 Rebecca Sramkova, Boulter went down 2-6 6-4 6-4, before Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson were roundly beaten 6-2 6-2 by Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova in the doubles.

Anne Keothavong’s team now return to the qualifiers in April, where a revamped format will see the winners of seven three-team groups – one of which could be hosted by Britain – moving forward to next year’s finals.

Slovakia will now face four-time champions Italy in the BJK Cup final, on Wednesday from 4pm (GMT).

Advertisement

Stream tennis and more with NOW

Download the Sky Sports app | Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp

Raducanu gets GB off to perfect start

In the opening match of the semi-final tie, Raducanu – who also triumphed in straight sets in Britain’s prior wins over Germany and defending champions Canada – saw off world No 238 Hruncakova.

The 22-year-old immediately broke her opponent but then fended off three break points on her own opening service game, before opening up a 5-1 lead with a second break of serve.

Also See:

Latest tennis scores and schedule

Stream Sky Sports on NOW

Download the Sky Sports App

Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp

The 2021 US Open champion faltered a touch when closing out the first set, spurning a set point when broken back, but eventually converted her third.

The second set followed a similar pattern, Raducanu earning a double break at 5-2, only to be broken back when serving for the match before closing out a 6-4 6-4 win.

“Every match is extremely challenging and I think as the tournament progresses it’s even more so,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview.

“Today was a really tough battle because my opponent has a huge ball strike and, despite her ranking, she plays much above that.

“I’m really happy to come through that because I’ve lost to her before [in 2023 in Auckland].”