Great Britain beaten by Czech Republic in Billie Jean King Cup

Emma Raducanu’s physical frailties struck again as Great Britain suffered a 3-2 defeat to the Czech Republic in their Billie Jean King Cup tie in Prague.

Raducanu marked her debut in the competition on Friday by beating Tereza Martincova in her first professional match on clay but struggled with a blister on her right foot on Saturday and lost 6-1 6-1 to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova in only 62 minutes.

That put the Czechs within sight of victory in the play-off but captain Petr Pala’s decision to throw in 16-year-old rookie Linda Fruhvirtova backfired when she was beaten 6-0 5-7 6-2 by Harriet Dart.

Having gone into the tie as significant underdogs, it was an achievement in itself for Britain to force a deciding doubles rubber, but Dart and Katie Swan were unable to pull off the upset, losing 6-1 7-5 to Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova.

Vondrousova was a level above any other player in the tie, losing just nine games in three matches, but it was clear Raducanu was operating at significantly less than 100 per cent in their contest, particularly after taking a medical time-out at the end of the opening set.

The 19-year-old said of the blister: “It kind of showed up after yesterday’s match. We’ve been managing it but as you saw I couldn’t really move or load either way and now it’s just about trying to get it better as soon as possible.

“It was compromising every shot I had to play. It’s very disappointing when you’re out there playing a rubber for your country and you feel completely redundant.”

This has happened quite a few times now and we need to nip it in the bud.- Emma Raducanu

Raducanu now faces a race against time to be fit for next week’s WTA Tour event in Stuttgart and admitted her frustration