Emma Raducanu backed Great Britain to be regular challengers for the Billie Jean King Cup title despite their heartbreaking loss to Slovakia in the semi-finals in Malaga.

Britain looked to be heading for their first final in the competition since 1981 when Raducanu defeated Viktoria Hruncakova 6-4 6-4 and Katie Boulter won the opening set against Rebecca Sramkova.

Neither had dropped a set all week but Boulter could not maintain her advantage and Sramkova fought back to claim a 2-6 6-4 6-4 victory and send the tie to a deciding doubles.

Called into action for the first time all week, Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls were caught cold by Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova and fell to a one-sided 6-2 6-2 defeat.

It is therefore Slovakia who will take on Italy on Wednesday for the title, while Britain must reflect on a disappointing end to what has nevertheless been a positive campaign.

“I think we were right there,” said Raducanu. 

“A few points kind of swung it in the second singles, but Boults has been playing great singles matches. We have been winning in singles the last two ties and didn’t even need a doubles.

“I think we definitely have a winning team. I think we can improve certain things but, overall, I think we did a really good job and there is a lot of positives to take.”

To come so close was a bitter pill for captain Anne Keothavong, who voiced her belief prior to their first win over Germany last Friday that her team could lift the trophy.

“I think we’re all absolutely gutted,” said the former British number one. “We came into this event really believing that we had a good shot at it and unfortunately we fell short.

“We came up against a better team. But it’s still pretty raw right now. It’s quite difficult to find the right words.

“It’s been a long journey to get to this stage in the competition. It’s not often that we have had opportunities to play for the final.

“But overall I’ve got to feel really proud of this team and all the efforts, not just here in Malaga, but in previous ties to get us to this stage.”

In particular, the performances of Raducanu, who was a doubt for the event after suffering a foot injury two months ago, show that Britain can look forward with optimism.

The 22-year-old was not at her best in a nervy encounter against Hruncakova, ranked a lowly 238, but was again able to hang tough when it mattered.

After saving three break points in her first service game, Raducanu raced into a 5-1 lead only to become a little passive and allow the big-striking Hruncakova to claw back three games.

The 2021 US Open champion served it out at the second time of asking, and the second set was a similar story, with Raducanu establishing a dominant lead, wobbling, but eventually finding a way through.

That set the stage for Boulter to try to clinch victory, as she had in confident fashion against both Germany and Canada.

She is ranked 19 places higher than Sramkova, who is almost blind in one eye, at 24 in the world and controlled the first set well but the momentum swung at the start of the second and Boulter could not wrest it back.

The 28-year-old kept fighting and recovered from breaks down in both the second and third sets but she faltered both times serving at 4-5.

The disappointment was clear as Boulter reflected on the defeat afterwards, saying: “I knew how tough today was going to be.

“I couldn’t let it slip at any point and I felt like I started to struggle a little bit on serve. I was still there fighting, giving everything I possibly could, but ultimately I didn’t serve well enough, which kind of cost me the match.”

Nicholls and Watson were an untested doubles pair in this event and they were never in the contest, quickly trailing 4-0 and unable to even threaten a comeback.

Keothavong’s team now return to the qualifiers in April, where a revamped format will see the winners of seven three-team groups – one of which could be hosted by Britain – moving forward to next year’s finals.

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