08 February 2020

Great Britain trail 2-0 against Slovakia in Fed Cup qualifier tie despite Harriet Dart's impressive performance against Viktoria Kuzmova

Great Britain trail 2-0 against Slovakia in the Fed Cup qualifier tie, despite British No 3 Harriet Dart's battling performance against Viktoria Kuzmova.

Dart, 23, lost in three sets 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-5 against the Slovakian No 1 who sits 76 places higher in the WTA rankings. 

In her Fed Cup debut she only took two of 13 break-points opportunities but did save three match points in the final set, but it was not enough after Kuzmova sealed victory.

GB captain Anne Keothavong told BBC Sport: "It’s not ideal to be 2-0 down but it was an incredible effort from Harriet.

"The way she fought out there, kept going, fighting.. as captain I can only be proud of that performance from someone who is making their debut."

Earlier, Heather Watson was beaten in straight sets 6-2 6-3 by Slovakian No 2 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Bratislava after she failed to convert eight of her nine break points and made 43 unforced errors. 

The Brit recorded only two matches on clay last season and played her team's No 1 role in Johanna Konta's absence.

The reverse singles and doubles rubber will be played today at the AXA Arena. And the winner of the best-of-five tie will join 11 other nations in the finals in Budapest in April. 

Watson must beat Kuzmova in order to give GB hope before Dart faces Schmiedlova.

Debutants Naiktha Bains and Emma Raducanu are set to play Kuzmova and Magdalena Rybarikova in the doubles. 

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