Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter end GB’s 26-year wait for Fed Cup promotion

Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter, players of vastly contrasting styles and temperament but united in a common purpose, steered Great Britain back to the elite world group of women’s international team tennis for the first time in 26 years here on Sunday.

As it happens, Anne Keothavong’s team would almost certainly have been included in the new 12-team format to decide the Fed Cup when it is launched next year anyway but the cherry was put on top with a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan in this World Group II play-off at the Copper Box Arena.

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Keothavong, who grew up in nearby Hackney, said: “It was right up there with my best days in tennis. We all worked so hard together. Watching the players develop and grow, and Jo leading the team as our No1, is fantastic to see. The support we had in Bath -for the February round-robin event] was special, but this topped it. That gave me goosebumps out there. I never expected to see international tennis on my doorstep. I hope people from around here left smiling.”

Konta, the British No 1, beat the No 1 Kazakh, Yulia Putintseva – who embarrassed her in the first round of the French Open last year when 93 in the world – by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, although there were moments when she might have capitulated, most of them in the third set. In the second singles the 22-year-old Boulter gutted it out to seal the tie by beating the equally combative Zarina Diyas 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-1, rendering the doubles redundant.

There was a time when Konta might have struggled to come from 1-4 down in the third set of a big match but she slayed everyone’s nightmare opponent from just such a perilous position in a reverse singles match that was in the balance for all but the latter moments of its two hours and 21 minutes. “I was down but I wasn’t out,” Konta said. “I tried to keep a cool, calm head and trust that I was going to find a way. I am embracing this environment and using it for what it is.”

It was Konta’s 11th straight singles win in the competition since her lachrymose collapse against Simona Halep in Bucharest two years ago and described perfectly her steady maturation as an elite player over a period in which she reached No 4 in the world and is now building again from 42 places adrift of that lofty perch.

She was the go-to player in the British squad and there could be no doubting her resolve in the unique atmosphere and circumstances of team tennis. As an illustration of what playing for her country means to her four of her last five comebacks from a set down have been in the Fed Cup.

They scrapped for early points as if it were a hunt for the last Easter egg at the bottom of the garden. Konta overcooked a backhand in the ninth game to drop serve and Putintseva pounced to close out the set in 44 minutes. On day one Konta did not quell the tenacity of Diyas until her serve clicked after going 1-5 down in the first set and she struggled for rhythm again with ball in hand.

Johanna Konta celebrates after winning a vital point.Photograph: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for LTA

There was minor drama in the second when Putintseva, 0-3 down, took an on-court break to have her blood pressure checked (echoing Ana Ivanovic in a heated match against Maria Sharapova in Cincinnati five years ago). Her travelling Kazakh fans then asked their loud drummer to shut it because he was giving Putintseva a headache.

“I was feeling unwell, everything together, the stress, there was a lot of emotion,” Putintseva explained. “I couldn’t sleep so well. On the court, not understanding where the ball was. I was scared. The guy checked my blood pressure. I felt better after a bathroom break, a little cooler.”

She broke, stopping a run of 10 winless games, and held for 2-4 but Konta won eight points on the spin to leave it at a set apiece.

Putintseva ignored a spat between Konta and the chair over a time violation to go 3-1 up and was poised for the win when she broke again with a deft crosscourt chip. But Konta fought through four deuce points to stay in contention at 2-4, held to 30, then to love for 4-5, before breaking to 15 for 5-5. Konta held to 15 for 6-5, gathered three match points and, where Boulter had faltered with a similar advantage against Putintseva on Saturday, she stayed killer-cool to seal the match with a crisp crosscourt forehand.

Boulter looked in the mood to make up for blowing those three match points in her first match when she broke for 3-2 but she quickly returned the favour and, after 40 minutes, held to force a tie-break. She could not compress her best tennis into the shootout, winning only one point.

They swapped early breaks in the second set and after an hour and a half Boulter hit the line with an unreachable forehand winner to level. In the third she slowly ground down the fading Diyas, serving out with her fifth ace on her third match point.