Katie Boulter pulled Great Britain level in their Billie Jean King Cup play-off against Sweden after a nervous Jodie Burrage suffered a nightmare debut.
The 24-year-old appeared to have settled well when she opened up a 4-0 lead on Kajsa Rinaldo Persson, ranked nearly 300 places lower, in the first match at London’s Copper Box but she then lost eight games in a row and fell to a 6-4 6-1 defeat.
Britain were overwhelming favourites going into the tie to win it and stay at the elite level of the competition, with Sweden missing their two highest-ranked players through injury.
And they should yet find a way through after Boulter again proved a steady pair of hands, defeating 532nd-ranked Caijsa Hennemann 6-2 6-1 to leave the tie level at 1-1 heading into Sunday’s concluding day, where two more wins are needed to secure overall victory.
Whether Burrage gets another chance must be highly questionable, with captain Anne Keothavong also able to call upon the more experienced Harriet Dart or Heather Watson.
Rankings often are not a great indicator of success in this competition and Burrage is far from the first player to fail to handle the occasion, but even by those standards this was some collapse.
She made 23 unforced errors in the first set alone, often missing by feet rather than inches as Persson’s comeback gathered pace, and lost 12 of the last 13 games.
The occasion has been a long time in coming for Burrage, who was unhappy to be overlooked for the last two teams, and she fought back tears as she said: “This event is nothing like (anything else) in tennis.
“I’m very proud to represent my country, I’m very disappointed that I didn’t get everyone a win today. That is going to stick with me for a while.
“It’s tough to take. I have not felt like this, and even the nerves before, ever, even stepping out onto Centre Court doesn’t compare to this.
“It’s so different when you’re playing for a team. That type of pressure I’ve never really understood before, and I don’t think you ever do until you do it. That’s why it hurts even more because I’m hurting for other people.”
Boulter spoke about a full-circle moment on Friday after finally making it back into the top 100 this season, four years after the back injury she suffered in leading Britain to victory over Kazakhstan at the same venue, which ruled her out for more than six months.
There have never been any concerns about the 27-year-old’s ability to produce on the big stage and although, like Persson, Hennemann played well above her ranking, Boulter was able to overpower her from the back of the court.
The world number 58 opened up early leads in both sets and saved all five break points she faced.
Djokovic makes winning return in Italian Open
Novak Djokovic made a winning return to the ATP Tour as he overcame a tough opener in Rome with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Corentin Moutet on Friday.
The Serbian, who has not played since the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo, made a slow start, falling 1-3 behind in the first set, but recovered to take the first match.
Moutet could not regain his level, and Djokovic dropped only one set as he cruised through the second match to advance after one hour and 26 minutes.
Djokovic, a six-time champion in Rome, will take on Alejandro Tabilo in the third round after the Chilean beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Data Debrief: Still on top
Djokovic now has 23 wins in ATP-1000 events since turning 35. He eclipses John Isner (22) for the outright second most wins in such tournaments since the introduction of the format in 1990; only Federer, with 51, has more.
The Serbian will have the opportunity to clinch his 1100th match win in the third round as he chases his first trophy of the season.
Defending champion Rybakina withdraws from Italian Open due to illness
Defending champion Elena Rybakina has been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to illness.
Rybakina has enjoyed a fine start to 2024, boasting a 30-5 record and capturing three WTA titles to match Iga Swiatek for the most of any player on the tour.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion won her second WTA 1000 title in Rome last year, defeating Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko en route to the final, which she won by virtue of a walkover after taking the opening set, due to an injury to Anhelina Kalinina.
The Kazakhstani was set to open her title defence against Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday, but lucky loser Oceane Dodin took her place after she felt too unwell to play.
The world number four said: "Unfortunately I do not feel well enough to compete. I have such good memories from last year and was looking forward to defending my title.
"Rome is so special to me, and I look forward to being back next year to reclaim my title and play in front of the Italian fans."
Former US Open champion Thiem to retire from tennis this year
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has announced he will retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season.
Thiem memorably fought back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the 2020 tournament at Flushing Meadows, also reaching three other grand slam finals during his career.
Having reached a career-high ranking of third in the world in the aftermath of that US Open success, Thiem has since struggled with wrist and knee injuries, failing to progress beyond the second round of a major since the 2021 Australian Open.
The Austrian failed to reach the recent Madrid Open, going down to Thanasi Kokkinakis in qualifying on the clay, which he had previously regarded as his strongest surface.
In a video posted to Instagram on Friday, the 30-year-old said: "I have to tell you a very important, and very sad but very beautiful message. The 2024 season will be my last one, I'm going to finish my career at the end of the season.
"There are reasons behind it; first of all, my wrist is not exactly the way it should be, and the second reason is my inner feeling.
"I was thinking about this decision for a very long time, thinking about my whole journey as a tennis player, which was incredible.
"I've had success and won trophies I would never have dreamed of. It was an incredible journey that I am so thankful for, but in the end I came to the conclusion that this decision is the only right one."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
