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Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter show Fed Cup fighting spirit as Great Britain see off Kazakhstan to make World Group return after 26 years

Boulter fought back from a set and a break down to beat Zarina Dyas and win the tie - Getty Images Europe
Boulter fought back from a set and a break down to beat Zarina Dyas and win the tie - Getty Images Europe

After Kazakhstan’s drums and trombones had dominated the Fed Cup conversation on Saturday, it was a ratty old hot-water bottle that helped Katie Boulter claim victory yesterday. And what a resonant victory, at that. By surging past Zarina Dyas in three sets, Boulter completed Great Britain’s return to the World Group after a 26-year absence.

The bottle in question spent much of the day lodged down the back of Boulter’s skirt, in an attempt to unlock the niggly spot in her lower back that had afflicted her during Saturday’s narrow defeat at the hands of Yulia Putintseva.

Boulter looked uncomfortable in the early stages of her match against Dyas. And you could understand why. She had been awake for much of the night reliving the three match points that had slipped by against Putintseva. And when she wasn’t tossing and turning in a troubled doze, she was trying to avoid aggravating that uncomfortable vertebra.

When Boulter fell a set and 2-1 behind, with Dyas to serve next, it seemed as if the singles matches would end locked at two matches apiece. This would not have been a happy situation for British captain Anne Keothavong, for the Kazakhs have an experienced doubles player in Galina Voskobaeva, while there is no settled British pairing to call upon.

Somehow, though, Boulter managed to stop fretting over her physical state, and commit her full attention to the ball. She has more weaponry than anyone else involved in this tie; indeed there are few women in world tennis who can strike winners so effortlessly. And once she managed to calibrate her sights, Dyas was powerless to stop her. Boulter won 11 of the last 14 games to close out a 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory and ensure that the doubles rubber would not be required.

GB's Fed Cup team celebrate after the 3-1 win was sealed at the Copper Box Arena - Credit: GETTY IMAGES
GB's Fed Cup team celebrate after the 3-1 win was sealed at the Copper Box Arena Credit: GETTY IMAGES

“It made all the difference,” said Boulter, when asked about her hot-water bottle. “It was hurting a little bit yesterday, but I knew if I was mentally strong today I could get through anything. It was just something to help me get through it. Whether it looked a little bit funny on the TV I am not sure.”

As for the mental reboot she had been forced to perform after Saturday’s agonising defeat, Boulter replied “It’s what we have to do, it’s part of tennis. We all have good days and bad days. I am going to fight and get up for the next match no matter what the circumstances are. I am proud of myself today, for bouncing back the way I did. Without everyone around me I really don’t think I would have done as well, so I am very thankful.”

Earlier, the British No. 1 Johanna Konta had left it even later in a dramatic comeback win over Putintseva. Konta had looked a beaten woman when she trailed 4-1 in the deciding set, but the match turned on a single rally. The Kazakh captain Dias Doskarayev admitted that he will have nightmares about Putintseva’s missed chance to hold serve for 5-1, describing the point in such graphic detail that you could tell it was burned into his memory.

“Yulia has short ball, chooses to go soft cross-court, and surprise the opponent,” said Doskarayev. “But the opponent runs it down, hits a flat down-the-line shot onto the line. That’s when you think ‘What the hell just happened?’

“Since then Konta is different. Before then she is missing every third shot, she can’t find the rhythm. We’re thinking just keep going and it will be done in five to seven minutes. After this shot she thinks ‘Maybe I am still in it.’ Since then we were dependent on Jo. We were hoping for her to get tight, but she kept believing. At one stage she won 11 points in a row. You try not to remember these moments, but they come to your dreams as a nightmare. If we lost in straight sets I would say ‘Tough luck.’ But losing three matches where we were up one set, it’s a long way back home.”

Konta’s 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory was her 11th straight singles win in the Fed Cup, dating back to her clash with sometime world No. 1 Simona Halep two years ago on the clay of Constanta. You might not have expected her to adapt so well to the team environment, given that she rarely discusses her matches with Keothavong during the changeovers, preferring to remain in her own bubble of concentration. But the febrile atmosphere clearly inspires her. Four of her last five comebacks from a set down have come at the Fed Cup.

“I have definitely dreamt of wanting to be a part of the team which is finally able to get through this hurdle,” said Konta afterwards. “But I was so nervous watching Katie. I have not stopped sweating since I came off court.”