April 23, 2017

Fed Cup: GB beaten in Romania as Johanna Konta and Heather Watson lose

Great Britain __have lost their Fed Cup World Cup Group II play-off in Romania, consigning them back to the Europe/Africa Zone.

It was 1-1 after Saturday when host captain Ilie Nastase was banned for swearing at the umpire, Johanna Konta and her GB skipper Anne Keothavong.

On Sunday, Simon Halep won 6-1 6-3 against Konta to put Romania in front.

Irina-Camelia Begu then beat Heather Watson 6-4 7-5 as Romania took an unassailable lead before the doubles.

Konta was left in tears after Nastase's conduct and, even though the world number seven still beat Sorana Cirstea on Saturday, she found Halep, ranked five in the world, a tougher test.

Halep raced into a 4-0 lead as she made the most of her clay-court knowhow and broke to love in taking the first set in 27 minutes.

Konta gave signs of a comeback by breaking Halep and taking a 3-1 lead in the second set but Halep responded by taking five games in a row to impressively win the match.

World number 113 Watson knew she had to win against 33rd-ranked Begu and she was involved in a tight match with plenty of quality and drama.

There were five breaks of serve in the first set, which Begu took, but none in the second until Watson lost her serve in the seventh game.

Begu also broke the Briton at 5-5 and served out for the match to secure victory for Romania.

More to follow.

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