• Fed Cup

Great Britain fall to impressive Turkey in Fed Cup

ESPN staff
February 5, 2015
Heather Watson and her Great Britain team-mates need a victory over Ukraine to progress © Getty Images
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A shock 2-1 defeat to Turkey in Budapest left Great Britain's women needing a victory against group favourites Ukraine in order to progress to the next stage of the Fed Cup.

Johanna Konta was beaten 6-3 7-6(6) by Ipek Soylu, who isn't ranked in the world's top 300, while Heather Watson lost her high-pressure match against Cagla Buyukakcay, who is ranked 79 places beneath her.

Having strolled through her encounter with Lichtenstein on Wednesday, Konta came into the tie on good form and started well by breaking Soylu but ended up capitulating at the end of the second set as she lost four tie-break points in a row.

Watson, who started as poorly as Konta finished, was 4-0 down to Buyukakcy and couldn't arrest the momentum until finally breaking back in the second. However, she was immediately broken back and succumbed to the in-form Buyukakcay, who had beaten world No. 26 Elina Svitolina on Wednesday.

A strong performance from doubles pair Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith gave Great Britain a potentially crucial point in the third and final tie against Turkey, but the team still need to beat Ukraine and hope that Turkey defeat Lichtenstein if they are to progress to the third round.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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