 Doubles specialist Borwell could not steer Britain to victory over the Dutch |
Great Britain finished their Fed Cup campaign in Portugal with a defeat by the Netherlands, losing Nigel Sears' team some valuable ranking points. After failing to progress from the group stage despite two wins in three ties, Britain faced the Netherlands with Fed Cup seeding points at stake. Anne Keothavong won the opening singles before Katie O'Brien was defeated. It came down to the doubles and O'Brien and Sarah Borwell were beaten 6-2 6-4 by Nicole Thyssen and Richel Hogenkamp. In the earlier singles rubbers, Keothavong had beaten Chayenne Ewijk 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 before O'Brien went down 7-5 3-6 6-4 to Aranxta Rus.  | We'll just have to continue working at it and come back with an even stronger effort next year Nigel Sears,
Great Britain captain |
Britain's hopes of promotion from the Europe/Africa Zone to World Group II - the second tier of Fed Cup competition - were ended in the group stage, which saw them beat Bosnia-Hercegovina and Belarus but lose to Austria. "We came here with the intention to win the group and gain promotion," said Great Britain captain Sears. "We ended up finishing second in the group and, of course, without promotion, which means we're still in the same group, so from that perspective it wasn't mission achieved. | 606: DEBATE |
"In terms of the efforts that the girls put in, I think they all gave their very best. And we lost to a good team in Austria on the day. "We'll just have to continue working at it and come back with an even stronger effort next year."
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