Greeks furious with line calls as Brits win

GREAT Britain set up a winnertakes-all Fed Cup clash against Hungary today but their victory against Greece was dogged by controversial line calls.

Britain made it two from two to sit top of Pool A of the Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 going into the final roundrobin tie after Katie Boulter and Johanna Konta won their singles matches.

However, there were questionable line calls throughout and Konta’s opponent, Maria Sakkari, condemned the line judges as “the worst I have ever seen in my life”.

Boulter’s opponent, Valentini Grammatikopoulou, also suggested the home judges were not playing fair as the matter cast a shadow over what was a thrilling tie.

Boulter delivered another opening win as she battled hard to triumph 6-3 4-6 6-3 before Konta made sure the tie was in the bag after coming from a set down to beat Sakkari 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Both sides were on the end of calls that looked wrong but, with no Hawkeye in operation, the players had no choice but to accept the decision.

Afterwards Sakkari, who is ranked one place higher than Konta at 38, did not hold back in her assessment of the officiating.

“They are terrible,” she said. “This is unacceptable. We have many players in the top 100 but are playing with poor balls and with line umpires that have never worked in their life. The chair umpires are great but the line umpires are the worst I have ever seen.”