Katie Boulter claimed her second win of the weekend against Sweden to put Great Britain in the ascendancy in their Billie Jean King Cup tie at London’s Copper Box.
The British number one confidently drew the hosts level on Saturday after Jodie Burrage’s shock defeat and then battled to a 6-1 7-6 (5) victory over Kajsa Rinaldo Persson in Sunday’s opening rubber.
Persson had won 12 of 13 games after trailing debutante Burrage 4-0 and really troubled Boulter in the second set, which she served for at 5-3.
But Boulter saved four set points and took her first match point in the tie-break to put Britain 2-1 ahead and within one win of claiming overall victory and maintaining their place at the elite level of the competition.
Boulter picked up where she had left off in a 6-2 6-1 win over Caijsa Hennemann by breezing through the first set but Persson, who played two tournaments in Britain to prepare for the tie, dug in well at the start of the second, with the pair swapping immediate breaks.
The Swede was again playing well above her lowly ranking of 372 and it appeared a deciding set was looming when Boulter’s timing went awry and Persson broke to lead 5-3.
She moved into a 40-0 lead trying to serve it out but Boulter benefited from a lucky net cord and then a nervy double fault from her opponent, going on to save a fourth set point before breaking back.
There was little to choose between them in the tie-break but Boulter played two strong points on her own serve from 4-5 and roared in celebration when Persson put a final shot wide.
