Watson, Konta help Great Britain beat Latvia

Heather Watson and Johanna Konta led Great Britain to a second successive 3-0 win at the Fed Cup in Estonia.

World number 72 Watson beat Latvia’s Diana Marcinkevica 6-3, 6-0 before world number 10 Konta defeated 35th-ranked Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-3.

Jocelyn Rae and Laura Robson then saw off Daniela Vismane and Marcinkevica 6-0, 6-7, (2-7), 6-2 in the doubles.

Britain beat Portugal 3-0 on Wednesday, and top the group going in to their final match against Turkey on Friday.

Victory would guarantee their place in the promotion play-offs on Saturday, when they would face the winners of Pool B.

“We knew that Latvia was going to be a strong team,” said Konta. “It’s never easy and a lot of players raise their level in Fed Cup. The scoreline doesn’t suggest it was as difficult as it felt.

“I’m really enjoying it. I didn’t get the chance to play it last year so from the very beginning of the season I was clear that I wanted it to be part of my schedule.”

Unlike the men’s team competition, the Davis Cup, which has a World Group of 16 nations, the Fed Cup divides its top teams into two groups of eight - World Group I and World Group II.

The 91 nations outside the top tiers are divided into three regional zones and Britain have one chance per year to escape a format that hugely frustrated former captain Judy Murray.

The Europe/Africa Group I event, which this year takes place in Estonia, has 14 teams divided into groups, with Poland, Croatia, Britain and Serbia the seeded nations.

Four group winners will progress to promotion play-offs on Saturday, and two nations will then qualify for World Group II play-offs in April which could see Britain given a home Fed Cup tie for the first time since 1993.