Here comes summer and Keothavong wants a boost from Fed Cup win
Anne Keothavong hopes Great Britain’s Fed Cup success can be the springboard for a good summer ahead for the country’s leading women.
A 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan in London earned Britain promotion to the World Group of the competition for the first time since 1993.
After a succession of away ties, Keothavong’s side were finally able to enjoy some of the noisy home support afforded to the Davis Cup team in their climb up the ladder and they thrived in the environment.
Johanna Konta claimed comeback victories over Zarina Diyas and Yulia Putintseva, while Katie Boulter secured the winning point against Diyas having come agonisingly close to beating 38th-ranked Putintseva on Saturday.
Captain Keothavong, right, said: “Jo always performs when it comes to Fed Cup and, with the weight of expectation and pressure, she always finds a way. How she does it, I’m in awe of her. And Katie as well.
“This should be used as a springboard for bigger and better things for all the players. For British women’s tennis it’s great that we have the strength in depth and I think they need to use it in a positive way.”
Dan Evans, James Ward, Kyle Edmund and even Andy Murray experienced a boost in their individual careers from Davis Cup success, and the challenge for Konta and Boulter in particular will be to show the sort of form they produced at the weekend more consistently.
Tall and rangy, Boulter possesses a competitive grit that should carry her much higher than her current ranking of 86. She won all four singles matches for Britain in Fed Cup in February but has not made much of a mark on the tour since, with a couple of bouts of illness not helping.
The clay season is likely to be challenging but she will earn a spot at Wimbledon by virtue of her ranking and should be a dangerous opponent on grass. Kontahaslookedsteadier this season after the difficulties of 2018 but her ranking is still languishing in the low 40s, way below her career high of four, and she has struggled to string wins together.
The 27-year-old should be applauded for trying to add variety to her game by throwing in drop shots and coming to the net, but she does not have naturally soft hands and too often on court her tactics appear panicked.
What cannot be disputed is Konta’s impressive record in Fed Cup, with Sunday’s victory over Putintseva her 11th in a row in singles. World No 1 Naomi Osaka was among her scalps in that run and the victory over Putintseva was the latest contest she has won from behind, which she has struggled to do on the regular tour.
“I think it’s a bit of a coincidence but also I am really doing well in embracing this environment and using it for what it is and what it brings to a competition,” said Konta.