Tennis news - Harriet Dart battles but Great Britain trail Slovakia 2-0 in Fed Cup
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Updated 07/02/2020 at 22:54 GMT
Great Britain fell 2-0 behind in their Fed Cup qualifier against Slovakia after Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lost their opening singles matches.
Great Britain's Harriet Dart in action during her singles match against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia during the Fed Cup Qualifier match between Slovakia and Great Britain at AXA Arena NTC on February 7, 2020 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo by Charlie Crow
Image credit: Getty Images
Dart produced a battling performance against world No 65 Viktoria Kuzmova, saving five match points in the final set before losing 6-7 (3) 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 55 minutes.
Watson was beaten 6-2 6-3 by world No 199 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on the clay in Bratislava.
GB, who are without world No 14 Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter, must now win the remaining three matches in the best-of-five tie to advance to the Fed Cup Finals in Budapest in April.
The second day will start with the reverse singles matches before concluding with a doubles match. Naiktha Bains and Emma Raducanu are currently scheduled to play the doubles for GB.
The opening match of the tie saw Watson lose in straight sets after converting only one of nine break points and making 43 unforced errors.
Dart produced a far more encouraging performance on her Fed Cup singles debut, saving three set points in the opening set before winning it in a tiebreak.
Kuzmova levelled as she saved three break points at 3-2 down and then took the set when Dart hit a double fault.
Dart fought back from 3-0 down to 3-2 in the third set and kept the contest alive by saving five match points. However, Kuzmova eventually closed the match out to put Slovakia in control of the tie.
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