8 February 2019

Going for glory: the GB Team at the Fed Cup

With Great Britain currently hosting its first home Fed Cup tie for more than a quarter of century, we catch up on all the action at the University of Bath and explain what the event is all about.

Above: Johanna Konta tweets congratulations on last night's win

 

The Fed Cup Format

The Fed Cup, the women's World Cup of tennis, is the largest annual international team competition in women's sport. It is made up of an eight-nation World Group and an eight-nation World Group 2 with the remaining countries divided into three regional zones. 

With Poland, the University of Bath is co-hosting matches in Group 1 of the Europe/Africa zone this week (6th -9th February). Having been stuck in this third tier since 1993, the GB team is looking to secure a long awaited return to the World Group 2. 

Group A: Great Britain, Greece, Slovenia; Group B: Serbia, Croatia, Georgia, Turkey

The format for the event is tough, with a potential four matches in four days meaning there is little time for recovery. Each match consists of two singles and one doubles rubbers. 

The GB team is the favourite to top group A and will be hoping to make it through to the play-offs for a third consecutive year. 

The GB Team

Captain Anne Keothavong named a strong line up with Brtish number one Johanna Konta joined by Katie Boulter, Heather Watson, Katie Swan and Fed Cup debutant Harriet Dart

What's happened so far? 

Backed by a sell-out partisan crowd, it's been so far so good for the GB team in Bath...

Day 1 v Slovenia W 3-0 

Katie Boulter came flying out of the blocks to comfortably secure her first Fed Cup singles win and get GB off to a perfect start. Johanna Konta was given a tougher test by Slovenia's number one, saving set points in a tight first set before eventually coming through in straight sets to give GB an unassailable lead. Harriet Dart and Katie Swan closed out the doubles rubber to make it a winnng hat-trick. 

Day 2 v Greece W 3-0 

GB battled to an epic victory over Greece on day 2. Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter both fought back to win their singles in thrilling three setters lasting well over two hours.  Harriet Dart and Katie Swan completed the whitewash with a more straightforward victory in the doubles which finished a little after midnight! The win, however, was marred by some controversy surrounding the line calls in the tie with Greek player Maria Sakkari describing the line judges as "The worst I have ever seen in my life". 

Day 3 & 4

The GB team take on Hungary, who also have two wins, in their final round robin tie at 4:30 pm on Friday. This is a straight shootout for a place in Saturday's play off with the winner of this match facing either Serbia or Croatia from Group B in the final. 

"The crowd's been absolutely incredible so it's been an amazing atmosphere and I'm really lucky to be a part of it. Having everyone out there make so much noise helped me out when I really needed it," Katie Boulter

Where can you watch it? 

Unfortunately all tickets for the remaining sessions have now sold out, but the good news is you can watch the GB ties for free on the British Tennis Facebook page live stream. BT Sport 2 is also providing live coverage of the event. 

Do you want to play on the same courts as the Fed Cup Stars? 

Join the Bath Tennis League! Matches can be played on any court in Bath, including those at the outstanding University of Bath's Sports Training Village where the Fed Cup is taking place. The next round starts on 11th April and more info can be found here