GB lose Fed Cup promotion play-off

Great Britain’s hopes of earning promotion in the Fed Cup ended after Katie Swan and Heather Watson both lost against Belgium.

Swan, 16, was beaten 6-3 3-6 6-3 by Ysaline Bonaventure in the opening rubber of the best-of-three tie.

Watson, 23, then lost 6-4 3-6 6-4 to Alison van Uytvanck as Belgium took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Group 1 promotion play-off in Eilat, Israel.

The doubles match later will have no bearing on the overall outcome.

Judy Murray’s squad beat South Africa and Georgia this week to reach the Group 1 play-off.

Both British players were ranked lower than their opponents, with Swan the world number 524 and Bonaventure at 160, while Watson is 42 places below Van Uytvanck at 85 in the rankings.

GB were without world number 28 and Australian Open quarter-finalist Johanna Konta, who withdrew with illness, and Naomi Broady, whose family has a long-running dispute with the Lawn Tennis Association.

Former British number one Laura Robson was not considered as she is in the early stages of her latest comeback from wrist injuries.

The defeat against Belgium means GB miss out on a World Group II play-off in April, and the possibility of a first home tie for Britain’s women since 1993.

International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty says his organisation is reviewing the format of the Fed Cup.

He said: “The ITF and our Fed Cup committee are continuing to look at potential enhancements to the Fed Cup.

“The competition has benefited from the home-and-away knock-out format that has been so successful in the Davis Cup, and the ITF is looking at new formats that would allow a 16-team World Group, something that is favoured by many of our constituents.”

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Lorenzi Upsets Tomic In Quito

Lorenzi Upsets Tomic In Quito

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Swan wins again as Britain top group

Teenager Katie Swan upset world number 327 Ekaterine Gorgodze as Great Britain beat Georgia 2-1 to set up a Fed Cup promotion play-off on Saturday.

Swan, Britain’s youngest ever Fed Cup player at 16 years old, won 6-3 6-3 in the opening contest of the best-of-three tie in Eilat, Israel.

Heather Watson then beat Sofia Shapatava 6-2 6-0 to ensure Britain top Pool B in Europe/Africa Group 1.

Britain will play Belgium in Saturday’s play-off.

Another victory there would see Judy Murray’s side progress to a World Group II play-off in April, and the possibility of a first home tie for Britain’s women since 1993.

In the four years since Murray took over the captaincy they have twice come through Europe/Africa Group 1, only to lose away ties against Sweden in 2012 and Argentina in 2013.

Murray’s hopes were dealt a blow before the tournament started this year when Australian Open semi-finalist and British number one Johanna Konta withdrew because of illness, prompting the captain to call on Swan.

The US-based teenager made her Fed Cup debut on Thursday with a victory against South Africa, but Gorgodze – ranked 197 places higher than the Briton – was a significant step up in class.

The Georgian broke serve at the first opportunity for a 2-0 lead but Swan then took 10 of the next 12 games to build a decisive advantage.

Leading 6-3 4-1, Swan held off a fightback and saved break points before closing it out after one hour and 31 minutes.

Watson, ranked 85th, was far too strong for world number 226 Sofia Shapatava in the second singles match as she won in one hour.

Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith were beaten 6-2 6-4 by Shapatava and Oksana Kalashnikova in the doubles match.

“Joss had a back injury which restricted her, especially on serve, and of course that’s a little bit of a worry for Saturday,” Murray told the LTA.

Belgium will go into Saturday’s decider as the favourites in terms of rankings, with Alison van Uytvanck their number one at 43 in the world.

Murray added: “They have a strong team but I know enough about Fed Cup to know that rankings can go out of the window when you’re playing for your country.”

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Teenager Swan wins on Fed Cup debut

Katie Swan became Great Britain’s youngest Fed Cup player at the age of 16 as she helped her team to victory over South Africa in Eilat, Israel.

The teenager, ranked 524th, defeated Ilze Hattingh 6-3 6-0 to give Britain a 1-0 lead in their first tie at the Europe/Africa Group 1 tournament.

Heather Watson and the doubles team of Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith wrapped up a 3-0 victory for Judy Murray’s team.

Britain must win three ties to secure a World Group II play-off in April.

Captain Murray selected Swan to play singles after Australian Open semi-finalist and British number one Johanna Konta withdrew because of illness.

Swan, who reached the Australian Open junior final last year, was ranked 126 places higher than 19-year-old Hattingh and beat her in just 55 minutes.

“I was really excited to play but I was also a bit nervous, which was showing in the beginning, but I managed to relax after a few games and I started playing really well,” Swan told the Fed Cup website.

“It’s just amazing to get to play for your country – for me it’s the best thing in tennis representing your country.

“British tennis is doing amazing. We have the Davis Cup boys who just won and obviously Jo and Andy (Murray) and Jamie (Murray) doing so well in Australia. It’s inspired the whole team.”

Watson, ranked 85th, was a comfortable 6-3 6-3 winner over world number 317 Chanel Simmonds in the second singles, before Rae and Smith defeated Madrie Le Roux and Michelle Sammons 6-3 6-2.

Britain will take on Georgia in the second and final group tie on Friday, with victory likely to set up a clash with Belgium on Saturday for one of the two qualification places on offer.

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Del Potro to return at Delray Beach

Former world number four Juan Martin del Potro will make his comeback at Delray Beach on 15 February after almost a year out with a wrist injury.

The 27-year-old Argentine, who won the US Open in 2009, last played at Miami in March.

He has had wrist surgery three times since 2010, the third time in June 2015, and asked fans not to expect too much immediately after his comeback.

“I know you are anxious to see me play, but I ask you for patience,” he said.

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Jamie Murray targets number one spot

Jamie Murray has set his sights on topping the world doubles rankings after partnering Bruno Soares to the Australian Open doubles title.

Murray, who helped Britain win the Davis Cup in November, is ranked second, behind Brazil’s Marcelo Melo.

“The Davis Cup last year gave me a lot of trust in myself, confidence in my game,” said the Scot, 29.

“I got to number two so why not get to number one? It’s one final step to try to get to number one.”

Murray became the first Briton to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title in 82 years when he and Soares, 33, beat Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 2-6 6-4 7-5 in Saturday’s final.

The Brazilian only teamed up with Murray in January, and the man from Dunblane has been pleasantly surprised how quickly their partnership has taken off.

“It was only our third tournament together so I guess it was unexpected that it clicked so fast but it’s been brilliant,” Murray said.

“Obviously you go in with the best intentions. You want great things to happen but it can take time or sometimes it doesn’t happen at all.

“We played our first match in Doha at the start of the year and we felt really good on court with each other. We understood what each other was trying to do on the court.”

Brother Andy Murray lost his fifth Australian Open singles final against Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Sunday.

However, the elder Murray believes his younger brother’s exploits in recent years – which include two Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal – have driven him to push his own career to greater heights.

“Seeing how hard Andy has worked to get to where he is in the game and all the successes that he had, that motivated me and inspired me to work hard and dedicate myself further to my sport,” added 2007 mixed doubles champion Murray.

“I think the last 18 months or so, that has really started to pay dividends. Being brothers as well, you want the best for each other but there’s still a part of you that wants to be doing the same stuff he’s doing.

“I’m watching him on TV or live at tournaments playing in semi-finals [and] finals of these amazing events and I wanted to be parted of that too.”

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Federer out for month after surgery

World number three Roger Federer will be out of action for a month after having arthroscopic knee surgery.

The 34-year-old 17-times Grand Slam champion had the surgery in his native Switzerland to repair a torn meniscus.

He was injured the day after his four-set Australian Open semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic last week.

Federer, who won his most recent Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2012, has pulled out of the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and the Dubai Championships.

He is the reigning champion in Dubai, having secured his seventh title there last March, and has won twice in Rotterdam.

“While this is an unfortunate setback, I feel grateful that up until now I have remained mostly healthy throughout my career,” he said.

“My doctors have assured me the surgery was a success and, with proper rehabilitation, I will be able to return to the Tour soon.”

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Rae inspired by GB Davis Cup win

Jocelyn Rae says Great Britain’s Davis Cup triumph is proving an inspiration for the Fed Cup team.

The GB women start their Euro/Africa Zone Group 1 campaign in Israel on Thursday, with Rae, 24, set to partner Anna Smith in the doubles.

She told BBC Radio Nottingham: “It was incredible and they all did so well. Not a lot of people maybe thought they could do it, but they did.

“Before we left, we saw the trophy. Even just seeing that was inspiring.”

GB are in a three-team group with South Africa and Georgia and the winners will go through to a play-off tie on Saturday.

Victory for the team, coached by Judy Murray, would see them through to another play-off in April with promotion to World Group Two at stake.

“The format of the group we are in is quite tricky to get out of, but we believe if we play well and put our best games on the court, we can do well,” Rae said.

Nottingham-based Rae won a Commonwealth Games mixed doubles gold medal for Scotland in 2010, in tandem with Colin Fleming, but then suffered a career-threatening foot injury.

She first noticed a problem playing in the Fed Cup in 2011 and a stress fracture was diagnosed, which kept her out of tennis for two years.

The Fed Cup team will be without British number one Johanna Konta, because of illness, but Rae is looking forward to this week’s challenge.

“We are all training well and we are just excited to start playing. I love it, I have always liked being part of a team,” she added.

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'A great week for Scottish tennis'

Scotland’s Gordon Reid has been “shocked” by the reaction of well-wishers following his Australian Open wheelchair singles title victory.

Reid, 24, who contracted Transverse Myelitis – a disease affecting the spinal chord – aged 13, defeated Joachim Gerard in Melbourne.

“It’s been a good couple of weeks,” Reid told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

“It was a nice feeling: it’s been a great week for Scottish tennis.”

Reid, who says he remains on “Australian time” following his return to Scotland, added: “I’m happy to be back in the UK and getting home later today to see everybody.

“I’ve been shocked by it really. It’s been fantastic the amount of media coverage involved and the amount of messages and support I’ve had.

“I’ve got to say a huge thanks to everybody who has wished me well and congratulated me.

“With this win in Australia, it’s great to see so many people supporting not only myself but also supporting wheelchair tennis as well.”

With Jamie Murray winning the men’s doubles title at the Australian Open and brother Andy reaching the final of the men’s singles before defeat by Novak Djokovic, Reid feels that Scottish tennis has received a shot in the arm.

He said: “It was a brilliant atmosphere and kind of felt we were taking over the place,” Reid said. “It was great to have Jamie and Andy there for the whole time, really.

“It kind of felt as if we were all enjoying each others’ success at the same time and felt more of a collective thing than individual accomplishments.

“I had a couple of friends out in Australia watching, who were travelling, but the majority of everyone else was back home in Helensburgh and Glasgow.”

On winning the singles final, he added: “Initially I was shocked and couldn’t believe it had happened.

“You can see in the video on match point that it takes me a second or two just to double check it’s actually match point and I’ve won it.

“After that, it’s just a great feeling. We put in a lot of hard work and effort behind the scenes back home.

“I’ve been in full-time training now for about five years.

“It’s great for all that hard work to pay off and enjoy moments like this.”

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'Murray must plan for Djokovic task'

Andy Murray arrived back in the UK from Melbourne no closer to cracking the code required to defeat Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam.

The world number two played some outstanding tennis in the second and third sets of the Australian Open final. And yet he still left the court with nothing to show for it, and without a win over the Serb at this level since the 2013 Wimbledon final.

A first Melbourne title always felt a bit of a long shot this year. Murray left home a couple of days after Christmas, and had to cope for five weeks with the understandable anxiety of being so far away from his heavily pregnant wife.

He says he would have flown home immediately had Kim gone into labour, but he knew he was very unlikely to have made it back in time.

An emotional month became even more turbulent when Kim’s father Nigel Sears collapsed on the Rod Laver Arena while watching his player Ana Ivanovic during the first Saturday night session.

Murray is very close to his father-in-law and went straight to the hospital after completing his third-round match. He returned the next day, and considered flying home, before the doctors gave Sears the green light to do the same.

Murray had return flights on hold for several days. Having a bag packed and next to the front door is excellent practice for an expectant father, but it must be very unsettling when you are trying to negotiate the latter stages of a Grand Slam before attempting to dethrone the runaway world number one.

When Murray lost his quarter-final to Roger Federer at the Australian Open of 2014, in his first major event since back surgery, he said it would have been “completely stupid” to expect him to win the title so soon. Victory this year was more plausible, but these were still a very challenging set of circumstances for a very emotional man.

Murray played extremely well throughout his time down under, but he will have plenty of food for thought while on paternity leave. He is hoping to return for Great Britain’s defence of the Davis Cup, which begins against Japan in Birmingham in the first week of March.

The first Masters events of the year follow in Indian Wells and Miami, before the European clay-court season heralds the start of the countdown to the French Open.

More pivotal clashes with Djokovic seem inevitable in the four months that will define the season, with Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics and the US Open all following on from Roland Garros.

Nemesis Novak

So what will Murray’s approach against the now 11-time Grand Slam champion be?

His start in Melbourne was well below par, and there was no indication of a clear strategy emerging until he found himself a set and a break down. By then it was arguably too late, as Murray has never beaten Djokovic after dropping the first set.

The world number one made his now customary exceptional start, but there was little sign of the breathtaking aggression and neatly timed approaches to the net which later highlighted Murray’s stirring counterattack.

Djokovic summed it up best after the match, when he commented: “I felt he was pretty neutral from the back of the court.”

Murray has the tools to push Djokovic all the way, as he showed in last year’s French Open semi-final and when he beat him in the final in Montreal.

But he also knows the task is unlikely to get any easier. Djokovic is allowing himself just a few days off, before switching his attention to the next challenge on the horizon.

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