Great Britain have missed out on the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Harriet Dart’s loss to France’s world number five Caroline Garcia sealed defeat in their best-of-five qualifier.
Dart, Britain’s highest-ranked player in the absence of Emma Raducanu, was beaten 6-1 6-7 (10-12) 6-1 by Garcia.
The 2022 US Open semi-finalist’s win gave France an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Instead of being in the 12-team Finals, Britain must contest a play-off to earn a spot in the 2024 qualifiers.
Anne Keothavong’s squad will be demoted to the Group I stage of the competition – the level below the top world tier and played regionally in the European/African zone – if they lose the tie in November.
“The players should feel proud of themselves,” Keothavong said.
“It hasn’t been the easiest of years for any of our players on the team, but they’ve gone out there and there have been times where they’ve shown what they’re capable of.
“Now it’s important that they’re able to take all the good stuff that they get from these weeks into their next tournament and continue to build on their season.”
Great Britain earned a consolation victory in the dead doubles rubber, with Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls beating French pair Clara Burel and Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 3-6 11-9.
Burel and Mladenovic had led 8-2 in the match tie-break and the Britons saved two match points to complete an extraordinary comeback to lift home spirits.
‘Garcia fifth in the world for a reason’
Britain always faced a tough challenge against a French team who are much stronger in terms of rankings and previous pedigree.
The task became even harder when they lost two tight singles matches in Coventry on Friday, which featured five tie-breaks and fine margins as Dart lost to Alize Cornet after team-mate Katie Boulter was edged out by Garcia.
The nature of those defeats left British captain Keothavong describing sport as being “brutal” and she was tasked with picking up her players overnight.
Dart, 26, was back out on court about 18 hours after her chastening defeat by Cornet, knowing she had to win to keep alive Britain’s faint hopes.
The chances of that looked slim after a one-sided opening set where Garcia clinically picked apart Dart’s service game.
Garcia, who won the WTA Finals last year in her biggest triumph to date, quietened the 2,000-strong home crowd and the flat atmosphere…
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