Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter once again combined to lead Great Britain to the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, at the expense of defending champions Canada.
British number two Raducanu, playing for only the second time in almost two months after a foot injury, opened the quarter-final tie with a 6-0 7-5 win against Canada’s Rebecca Marino.
Raducanu’s success meant British number one Boulter was given the chance to seal her country’s place in the last four of the women’s team event.
Boulter succeeded by beating Leylah Fernandez, who famously defeated Raducanu in her shock victory at the 2021 US Open, in a 6-2 6-4 win later on Sunday.
Britain now advances to a semi-final draw against Slovakia, who defeated 2022 runners-up Australia on Tuesday (11:00 GMT).
Anne Keothavong’s team entered the 12-nation final as the second-lowest ranked country.
But with Raducanu and Boulter yet to drop a set in Malaga, belief continues to grow that Britain can win the event now known as the ‘World Cup of Tennis’ for the first time.
How singles stars are showing Britain the way
In Boulter and Raducanu, Great Britain have a pedigree that is among the most substantial in the competition.
British number one Boulter, who has broken into the top 25 in the world after a season in which she won two WTA titles, was the third highest ranked singles player in the quarter-finals.
Former Grand Slam champion Raducanu was also ranked third among the number two players.
So even though reigning champions Canada are second in the world, there was no reason for Great Britain to have an inferiority complex going into the best-of-three.
However, the presence of Gaby Dabrowski – the world number three in doubles and recent WTA Finals champion – meant that a decisive doubles match was not somewhere Great Britain would have particularly wanted to go.
That’s why it felt imperative that Raducanu open with a win.
The first set, with a huge quality gap between the Marino in 103rd place, required ruthlessness.
The second required patience and resilience. Raducanu had to save seven break points before taking serve from Marino in the 11th game.
“It was an incredibly difficult match because the dynamics in each set were so different,” Raducanu said.
Raducanu, who has now won her past four singles matches for Great Britain, laid the platform for Boulter to seal the deal against 31st-seeded Fernandez.
Playing on a fast hard court to suit her excoriating style, Boulter ran away with the first set when Fernandez’s service game fell apart with a flurry of double faults.
Boulter’s confidence, built during the best season of her career and maintained in a team environment in which she thrives, continued in the second set.
Taking a 4-0 lead, she was on the brink of victory before nerves struck.
Boulter failed to serve out victory the first time, hitting a forehand long on match point on Fernandez’s serve at 3-5 and then producing a double fault on her second match point.
But with vocal British support trying to rally her, she managed to cross the line on the fourth attempt to spark a cheering celebration among the Union Jack-clad contingent.
