Four-midable Boulter steers GB to play offs
KATIE Boulter played a key role as Great Britain eased to victory in their first home Federation Cup tie for 26 years to secure a place in the World Group II play offs.
The 22-year-old from Woodhouse Eaves made her debut in the singles and produced four successive days of quality tennis to win all of her four matches and retain a perfect record in the Federation Cup as the team aims to return to the elite World Group level for the first time since 1993.
Boulter was first on court for GB in the opening singles against Slovenia beating Kaja Juvan 6-4 6-2 to give the team a 1-0 advantage and watched on as Konta won her singles match and Harrier Dart and Katie Swan won the doubles rubber to round off a 3-0 win.
In the second match against Greece, it was another 3-0 win for Team GB as Boullter mantained her perfect record with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 win over Valenti Grammatikopoulou before Konta beat Maria Sakkari and Dart and Swan beat Arkadianou and Papamichail but the win was overshadowed by criticism of the line judges by both teams.
Aftter the match Boulter said: “My mentality is to go out and fight, no matter what happens. It was a really tough match and I’m just happy to get through it.
“The support was absolutely incredible today. It really got me through.”
In the third match against Hungary, Boulter beat Dalma Galfi 6-4 6-7 7-6 and Johanna Konta beat Anna Bondar 6-2 6-7 7-6 to ensure GB topped Group A.
Winning Group A put GB into a promotion play off against Group B winners Serbia and Boulter beat Ivana Jorovic 6-4 6-3 for her fourth singles win of the week and then Konta beat Aleksandra Krunic 7-6 3-6 into Boulter 6-2 this to week. secure said: To “I’ve victory. go put out everything there and get four wins is more than I could ever ask for.
“I wasn’t going in to this week thinking ‘I’m going to win four matches’. I was just putting my heart on the line and doing the best that I can, and then seeing what comes of it.
“Playing for your country is a little different to just playing for yourself. You’re trying to make people proud. It is very special and hopefully I can replicate that many more times.”
The draw on Tuesday saw GB given a home tie for the play offs in April against Kazakhstan.