Great Britain miss out on a place in the Billie Jean King Cup final as Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls lose the deciding doubles against Slovakia.
Great Britain's long wait to win the Billie Jean King Cup continues after Slovakia staged an impressive fightback to reach the final.
But Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls, who were called upon for the first time this week, lost 6-2 6-2 to Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova. In April's best-of-five qualifier against France - a tricky away tie on clay which British players have struggled on recently - Raducanu won both her matches with Boulter adding another to secure their progress.Raducanu did not drop a set in her three matches, providing the platform for Boulter - who has enjoyed the finest season of her career - to finish the job.
From that point Boulter showed tremendous fight to claw back the deficit, but the 28-year-old was then mortified to put a volley into the net at 30-30 in the ninth game. A dejected Boulter looked on from the sidelines as Slovakia broke again before serving out the win that sealed a spot in their first final since they won the tournament in 2002.Whether Britain win the trophy sometime over the course of Raducanu's career, or not at all, remains to be seen.
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