Great Britain Fed Cup captain Judy Murray insists the team will regroup and come back stronger next year after defeat to Belarus brought an end to their hopes of reaching the World Group II play-offs.
Friday’s impressive 3-0 win over Ukraine saw Great Britain set up an enticing tie against Belarus in Budapest on Saturday.
However they were unable to add another victory to their week’s work with both Johanna Konta and Heather Watson going down in straight sets in their respective singles matches.
Konta was beaten 6-0, 6-1 by Olga Govortsova while Watson found the going tough against two-time Australian Open winner and London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Victoria Azarenka, eventually losing 6-4, 6-1.
It meant Belarus took an unassailable 2-0 lead and put them through to April’s play-offs while Murray was left to try and pick up her team.
“It was very disappointing for us after such a good day yesterday and everyone played so well with huge team spirit and desire to get into the play-off,” said Murray.
“Today just didn’t happen for us. In the first match Jo just couldn’t find her form at all but Olga Govortsova played incredibly well and made it very difficult for Jo to get into the match but she was well below her best sadly for her and for us.
“Heather was up against one of the best players in the world and I thought she got closer than the score probably suggested but maybe wasn’t quite as consistent as she needed to be to break down that level of player.
“It is all over for us for another year and we have 12 months to try and help the girls improve and get ready to come back and challenge for this zone again.”
© Sportsbeat 2015