Emma Raducanu produced another dazzling comeback win to help Great Britain qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in stunning fashion with a 3-1 win over France.
Anne Keothavong’s team were big underdogs ahead of the qualifier on clay in Le Portel and had lost to the same opponents in Coventry last year, but entered day two level at 1-1 after Raducanu’s impressive three-set victory over Caroline Garcia on Friday.
Katie Boulter put her day one disappointment behind her to produce an excellent 7-5 6-0 win over world number 44 Clara Burel for a career-best victory on clay.
It opened the door for former US Open champion Raducanu to send Britain through to the Finals later this year in Seville, but she was pushed all the way by Diane Parry in a pulsating contest that lasted two hours and 52 minutes.
Parry won the first set but Raducanu, back in the team for the first time in two years following an injury-hit 2023, fought back to clinch a tremendous 4-6 6-1 7-6 (1) victory that not only sends her country through to the November Finals, but serves notice to her rivals ahead of the clay-court season.
“To be able to put two matches like that back-to-back, three sets and on clay against really tough opponents, it’s just a testament to the work we’ve been doing,” Raducanu told the BBC.
“I knew it would pay off eventually, so I’m very pleased that this weekend it was able to show.
“On Thursday before the tie, we said how tough this would be but honestly I had a good feeling about the confidence of our team.
“We have a very strong team and I am really pleased to have been able to score two points, but it helped so much having Boults this morning lead us to go 2-1 up.
View this post on Instagram“And obviously everyone on the bench and the support staff, they’ve been working around the clock to keep us fit and get us back on court because we finished pretty late last night.
“So, it’s a massive shout out. It’s not just me and Boults, it was everyone.”
Nadal slumps out of Madrid Open as farewell appearance comes to a halt
Jiri Lehecka claimed a memorable win over one of tennis' greats as he downed Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open.
Nadal's farewell appearance at the tournament he has won five times came to an end with a 7-5 6-4 defeat on Tuesday.
The 22-time grand slam champion had been hoping to tee up a quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev.
Ultimately, though, world number 31 Lehecka was the man who progressed.
Lehecka ruined the hopes of the Nadal fans packed into the stands in the Spanish capital, and took control when he reeled off 10 straight points to take the opening set.
Nadal won the Madrid Open in 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2017, and said farewell to the crowd in an on-court interview following his defeat.
Data Debrief: Nadal falls short of milestone
Nadal had been hoping to win his 60th match at the Madrid Open, while he would have reached his 100th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final had he won. This was his first defeat to a player ranked lower than 20th in the world since he went down to Pablo Cuevas in 2016.
Lehecka, meanwhile, will make his second appearance in the last eight of a Masters 1000 event.
Auger-Aliassime gets the better of Ruud as Medvedev hits Masters 1000 milestone
Casper Ruud's hopes of building on his victory at the Barcelona Open were ended as he lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Madrid Open.
Auger-Aliassime will now face top seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, after claiming a 6-4 7-5 victory over the fifth seed Ruud on Tuesday.
Ruud, runner-up at last year's French Open and a force to be reckoned with on clay, won in Barcelona earlier in April, but came unstuck against the Canadian.
It was not the only shock exit, as Alexander Zverev, the world number five, succumbed in straight sets to Francisco Cerundolo.
Earlier, Daniil Medvedev claimed his place in the quarters, in which he could face Rafael Nadal, by beating Alexander Bublik 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
Data Debrief: Medvedev's milestone
Five of the six quarter-finals Medvedev has reached on clay have come at either ATP Masters 1000 or grand slam level.
He has now reached at least the quarter-final stage at all nine Masters events, too.
Alcaraz matches Nadal record as reigning champion scrapes into Madrid Open quarters
Jan-Lennard Struff made life difficult for Carlos Alcaraz, but the reigning Madrid Champion eventually made it through.
Alcaraz had won both of his opening games with the minimum of fuss, but he needed three sets to get beyond Struff, who won a second-set tie-break.
However, Alcaraz eventually prevailed in the decider, clinching a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) victory.
Alcaraz, who is in the hunt for a third straight title in Madrid, will now face seventh-seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the last four.
Data Debrief: Prodigal son matches the master
There have been plenty of comparisons between Alcaraz and his fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
And with his win on Tuesday, Alcaraz matched Nadal's record for the longest winning run at the Madrid Open, at 14 matches, since the tournament began in 2002.
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