British relief at being ‘back home’
Fed Cup team eager to make most of hosting first tie in 26 years, reports Simon Briggs
Is there a deeper patch of quicksand in tennis – or in any sport, for that matter – than the catchily named Euro/africa Zone Group 1? To reach the fragrant meadows of the Fed Cup’s World Group, you have to slog your way through that quagmire, which grabbed the British team 26 years ago and is yet to let go.
This year, though, something is different. The 2019 zonal qualifiers begin today at the University of Bath, just a few metres from where Britain’s Winter Olympians do their training. It is the first time that the world cup of women’s tennis has come to this country since 1993.
Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter are expected to lead the line against Slovenia, in the first of what should – with any luck – be four matches in as many days. Win them all, and the job still will not be done, for there would be a World Group play-off to contest in April. But at least the promised land would be in sight.
“It feels brilliant to finally play a home tie,” said Anne Keothavong, the British Fed Cup captain. “Though I suppose you should ask me again at the end of the week. To play in front of a full-capacity home crowd is something we have always wanted as a team, and now we have that opportunity.”
If your mental arithmetic is on point, you will notice that the dates in the first two paragraphs of this article match up. Yes, 1993 was both the last year Great Britain hosted the Fed Cup, and the last time they managed to escape the competition’s lower tier.
Promotion came after the Lawn Tennis Association staged the qualifying event – just like this year – and a team led by Clare Wood ran through five successive 3-0 victories against the likes of Russia, Turkey and Ukraine at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
“The main thing I remember is how cold it was in Nottingham that