As Poland put an end to Great Britain’s chances of reaching the United Cup semi-finals, Katie Boulter suffered agonizingly short of a stunning victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Boulter, 28, needed victory to send the best-of-three tie into a deciding doubles, but lost 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 against world number two Swiatek in Sydney.
After a nearly three-hour long enthralling contest, the pair showed their mutual respect by offering a warm embrace at the net.
“I’m exhausted. I’m happy I won so I didn’t have to play the doubles”, said Swiatek.
“This match was so crazy, there were so many changes of momentum”.
After Billy Harris’ narrow defeat to former world number six Hubert Hurkacz, Britain’s hopes were slashed when Boulter shocked the five-time major champion.
Harris, 29, pushed 16th-ranked Hurkacz in the opening match of the best-of-three tie before going down 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.
How Boulter nearly beat Swiatek in a thriller
Boulter has been a talismanic presence for Britain in the mixed gender team event, adding cred from her best year of career last year.
The world number 24 led her nation into the quarter-finals with crucial singles victories against Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska and Australia’s Olivia Gadecki in the group stage.
Although facing Swiatek was a step up in class, Boulter had the chance to show off her skills in front of the most dominant player on the WTA Tour in the previous three seasons.
A rampant start by the Pole, who moved 4-1 ahead in the first set, was ominous for the Briton, but she showed her quality in a spirited response.
Boulter began to match Swiatek’s intensity and start a contest that showcased both players’ crisp ball-striking.
Swiatek has occasionally struggled to master hitting heavy-hitting foes, frequently returning with less accuracy as she tries to match their strength.
Boulter continued to slam her groundstrokes, and the Briton took a one-set lead after playing some of the best tennis of her career.
Sustaining that level was not going to be easy, though.
Swiatek responded by resuming his strong start in the second set, removing some of the pressure from rallies with more loopy returns, and holding the score at comfortably at one.
Momentum fluctuated as Boulter recovered from the decisive break.
The Briton lost the next eight points after Swiatek’s lead, ending the eighth and ninth games with a 3-2 deficit.
Boulter would have had the biggest ranking win of her career if she had taken a chance.
The British team suffered yet another agonizing defeat.
With Jack Draper suffering from a hip injury and Cameron Norrie beginning the season at an ATP event in Hong Kong, Harris, a late bloomer who has made significant progress over the past two years, was playing as Britain’s leading man.
Like in his defeats against Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the world number 125 acquitted himself well against a much higher-ranked opponent in Hurkacz.
Burrage won the match point in Auckland before falling short.
British fans were even more let down by Jodie Burrage’s decision to miss out on reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA event in Auckland, which was season-opening.
The British number seven battled American opponent Hailey Baptiste to earn a match point in the final set, but the winner fell 7-5 7-6 (8-6).
After missing a lot of time last season with wrist and ankle injuries, Burrage, 25, is attempting to restart her career.
With her opening victory over New Zealand wildcard Vivian Yang, she made the most of her chance after being a late loser in the Auckland main draw.
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