Great Britain are closing in on a place in the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time since 1981 after Emma Raducanu put them ahead against Slovakia.
British number two Raducanu continued her winning streak, having not dropped a set in her three matches at the women’s team event, with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Viktoria Hruncakova.
It means Katie Boulter, Britain’s leading singles player, can secure her nation’s place in Wednesday’s final by beating Slovakian number one Rebecca Sramkova later on Tuesday.
If Boulter loses, the best-of-three tie will go to a deciding doubles match.
Italy, who are led by world number four Jasmine Paolini, will be the opponents for the victors.
Britain have never won the competition formerly known as the Fed Cup and now branded as the ‘World Cup of Tennis’, but are aiming to reach the final for a fifth time in its 61-year history.
“I will be coming back to support Katie and give everything like I did on the court,” said 2021 US Open champion Raducanu, who is ranked 58th in the world after missing most of last year through injury.
“Katie is playing great and I wish her all the luck.”
Having a player with the pedigree – and potential – of Raducanu is integral to Britain’s hopes of finally lifting a trophy that many icons of the women’s game have once won.
Whether that will be on Wednesday, sometime over the course of Raducanu’s career, or not at all remains to be seen.
But she has again showed over the past week why Anne Keothavong’s team need her fit and firing.
In all three of Britain’s ties at the 12-nation finals in Malaga, Raducanu has laid the platform for world number 24 Boulter to complete the job at the earliest opportunity.
Raducanu had not played for two months before the women’s team event because of a foot injury and it remained to be seen what shape she would be in.
Straight-sets wins against Germany’s Jule Niemeier and Canada’s Rebecca Marino were encouraging given her previous absence.
Raducanu was again expected to make light work of Hruncakova, who is ranked 241st in the world and largely plays on the third-tier ITF Futures Tour.
A slow start from the Slovakian, whose game revolves around power from the baseline, allowed Raducanu to move 5-1 ahead in the first set before becoming slightly passive as her opponent improved.
Her first-serve percentage was not as high as she would have liked and her returning game also lacked rhythm as Hruncakova fought back to 5-4 before Raducanu served out.
It was a similar story in the second set.
Raducanu confidently moved a double break up before Hruncakova pinched one back, forcing the British number two to again show her resilience.
The guttural roar which greeted her winning crosscourt forehand on match point indicated her satisfaction, as did the beaming smile across her face as she handed out high fives to the whole British team afterwards.
“Every match is truly challenging and as the tournament progresses it is more and more,” said Raducanu, who has thrived in the team environment.
“It was a tough match and my opponent has a huge ball strike and played above her ranking.
“I was pleased with how I composed myself and served out the sets.”
