Yes, the tennis powers that be are Eastern Europe, with Russian Federation holding both the BJK Cup and the Davis Cup. The Russian invasion of Ukraine means that they won't be in both competitions but no mistaking the power of world tennis lies in that part of the world. Kazakhstan may be small IN SPORTING TERMS but they boast this year's Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina in their squad. Great Britain on the other hand are missing the injured Emma Raducanu so Harriet Dart takes over as number one. Home court advantage means nothing if you can't do the basics in tennis. Dart did it early on check out 1-0 Kazakhstan 30-30. Strong defensive play from the baseline from Dart, she was more or less second favorite in this point from the start. The cross court scoop forehand catching Elena by surprise expecting it to go down the line. From there , Harriet I am afraid abandoned the basics. Nothing will ever put you under pressure as a low first serve percentage. when you watch the clip on 2-1 Kazakhstan 30-30 the serve is neither down the line or angled cross court and gives Elena an easy target to aim at, deep near the baseline. Kazakhstan running away with the set, Elena looked unstoppable on her racquet.
GB and Kazakhstan are in Group C along with heavy favorite Spain with the winner advancing to the semis. All in all 12 nations are in Glasgow for the Finals but in all honesty GB look light weight in this tie. The second set proved more competitive than the first though. The change over didn't change much in Harriet's play. Check out first point of the second set first point. Same type of serve on the deuce court as 2-1(30-30 first set) easy target for the Wimbledon Champ. Best point of the match, 2-0 Kazakhstan 0-30. This was GB's point all day long but Dart did herself a disservice with the lob, could have gotten more height on it. Harriet still had a chance at the net at the end trying to catch out Elena like in set one but hey once bitten twice shy , right? Much improved GB performance mid set with some impressive ground strokes from Dart. The Rybakina quality eventually shone through. Professionally done as well, one might expect a highly ranked player to take the foot off the pedal with the season coming to a close but not Elena. Watch how she closed the match 5-4(40-30). Katie Boulter lost her second seeds rubber to Yulia Putintseva rendering the doubles academic.GB need a favor from the Spanish while hoping they beat them themselves if they are to have a chance of progressing.
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