British duo secure Fed Cup win
Date published :
05 Feb 2010 - 23:16:45
Sarah Borwell and Elena Baltacha produced a magnificent fightback to beat Olga Govortsova and Tatiana Poutchek 3-6 7-5 6-2 and help Great Britain defeat Belarus 2-1 in their Europe/Africa Group 1 Fed Cup tie in Lisbon.
But the victory was not enough to take them through to the weekend's play-offs for a place in World Group II following their defeat against Austria on Thursday.
At 3-6 and 0-3 down it looked as though Britain were heading to defeat in the deciding rubber, but the British pair produced a fantastic fightback to take the second set 7-5, having had to save two match points. They then eased to victory with a 6-2 win in the third set, despite requiring five match points to put the seal on their success.
Anne Keothavong had put Britain 1-0 up after she beat Ekaterina Dzehalevich 7-6 (10-8) 6-1 in the opening rubber.
The British number three, who has not played since July of last year due to a knee injury, had to save two set points during the first set tie-break, but dominated the second set to ease to a straight-sets victory.
"I'm glad I got through that and it's nice to get my first win after so long out of the game," she said. "It is just such a pleasure to be out there on the court - it really is.
"After I got through the first set I loosened it up and started hitting a bit more freely and gained a bit of confidence. Those are the kind of matches I need - these next few months are going to be tough for me, but this is a start!"
Yorkshire's Katie O'Brien was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Govortsova in the second match to level the tie.
That result saw the tie go down to the wire, but Borwell and Baltacha prevailed in the decisive doubles match.
