Tags
Anne Keovathong, Bath University, Clare Balding, Fed Cup, Georgia, Great Britain, Harriet Dart, Jo Konta, Katie Boultar, Katie Swan, Serbia, Slovenia, Tennis
When the Fed Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Davis Cup, comes to the UK for the first time in 26 years, and it takes place at the Bath University Sports Training Village, just a (theoretical, but we won’t dwell on that) hour’s drive away from me, well I have to go for at least one day, don’t I? I did so yesterday, 6th February, for the first day.

Having allowed an enormous amount to time to get there, I arrived at my seat on the Centre Court, my re-usable travel cup filled with coffee, just as the first singles players, from Georgia and Serbia, were warming up. There followed in the ‘morning’ session, which finished at 3.30 pm, another singles match and a doubles between the two countries.







Her ankle was strapped up, and the pair went on to win in two sets, taking the overall score to 2-1 in Serbia’s favour.
The ‘afternoon’ session started at 4.30 pm. I took a few photos on my way back to the courts.




Many more camera operators in this session, because it was between Great Britain and Slovenia.


















But the Slovenians again managed to hold them to 6-2. So overall Great Britain won 3-0.
I rushed off, not staying for the media interview. It was 10.10 pm. And I was home in 55 minutes. Some people go for all four days. I don’t think my heart could cope with the stress, especially if Jo Konta were to do that again!
PS, 4 days later. Great Britain went on to come top out of all eight of the countries in this group, and a play-off in April will determine whether they are promoted to the next tier.