Fed Cup: Get to know the Brits heading to Bath

Great Britain’s Fed Cup team will soon be in action for the Europe/Africa Group 1 clash. Staged at the University of Bath from 6 – 9 February, the event marks the team’s first home tie in over a quarter of a century.

With less than ten days to go, take a moment to familiarise yourself with the players who will be flying the flag for Great Britain in Bath. 

Johanna Konta

• Age: 27
• Plays: Right-handed
• Current world ranking: 39  
• Career-high world ranking: 4
• Fed Cup ties: 19        
• Fed Cup win/loss record: 14/10

Johanna made her Fed Cup debut five years ago and has gone on to play 19 singles matches (an impressive 12/7 win/loss record) and five doubles rubbers (winning two of them).

In recognition of winning all three of her Europe/Africa Group I matches in 2018, Johanna was shortlisted for a Fed Cup Heart Award – an accolade which celebrates players who have displayed outstanding determination and courage on court. After advancing to the World Group II Play-Off in Japan, she brilliantly defeated 2018 US Open champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets. 

Following the Play-Off, she went on to reach her sixth WTA final in Nottingham and was in stunning form to defeat 23-Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-0 at the Silicon Valley Classic in August.

The British No.1 has had a solid start to the season so far, including a straight sets victory over 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens at the Brisbane International. She will be the third highest ranked player in Bath, just nine spots behind Croatia’s world No.30 Donna Vekic and two behind Greece's world No.37 Maria Sakkari.

Katie Boulter

• Age: 22
• Plays: Right-handed
• Current world ranking: 88
• Career-high world ranking: 88
• Fed Cup ties: 2
• Fed Cup win/loss record:  2/0

Katie Boulter received her first Fed Cup calling in 2018 when she was named for the same zonal event which will be played in Bath next week. This time in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Katie played two doubles rubbers with compatriot Anna Smith and won them both to hold a 2/0 win/loss record.

She went on to enjoy a terrific year which saw her seize two ITF Pro Circuit titles ($25,000 Obidos and $60,000 Fukuoka), win her maiden main draw Grand Slam match at Wimbledon, reach her first two WTA quarter-finals in Nottingham and Tianjin, and break into the Top 100 for the first time. 

Katie kickstarted 2019 by teaming up with Cameron Norrie for the Hopman Cup. She had close singles encounters with Greece’s world No.37 Maria Sakkari and Switzerland’s world No.43 Belinda Bencic, and showed incredible potential as she pushed Serena Williams to a second set tie-break.

Katie and Cameron excelled on the doubles court, defeating Greece (Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas) and the USA (Serena Williams and Frances Tiafoe).  She continued her strong form at the Australian Open and secured her first main draw win at Melbourne Park with a three-set victory over former semi-finalist Ekaterina Makarova.  

Heather Watson

• Age: 26
• Plays: Right-handed
• Current world ranking: 110
• Career-high world ranking: 38
• Fed Cup ties: 31
• Fed Cup win/loss record: 28/12   

Heather is Great Britain’s most experienced teammate, having played in 31 ties and every year since 2011. She has a remarkable 28/12 win/loss record (20/9 for singles and 8/3 for doubles) and in 2017, she was rewarded for her dedication to the tournament by winning the Fed Cup Heart Award.  In 2018, she won all three of her matches at the Europe/Africa zonal group event, helping Great Britain get through to World Group II Play-Off for a second consecutive year.

In that same year, the 2016 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion added a fourth doubles WTA trophy to her cabinet (a seventh including singles) playing with Tatjana Maria in Acapulco, and she finished a finalist in Nottingham with Mihaela Buzarnescu.

So far in 2019, she has competed at the Brisbane International, Hobart International and the Australian Open, scoring two singles victories in Hobart where she was crowned champion in 2015.

Harriet Dart

• Age: 22 
• Plays: Right-handed
• Current world ranking: 121
• Career-high world ranking: 121
• Fed Cup ties: Making a Fed Cup debut
• Fed Cup win/loss record:  0/0

Harriet Dart made her mark on the WTA tour in 2018 by winning her first main draw match whilst competing in Eastbourne. After being awarded a wild card into the grass-court tournament, she defeated Kristyna Pliskova who was ranked 119 places above her in the opening round.

Harriet then received a wild card into Wimbledon and pushed Kristyna’s twin sister and former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova to three sets in the second round. Despite falling in the singles, she went on to win the hearts of the nation by reaching the semi-finals of the mixed doubles with fellow Brit Jay Clarke. 

On top of her run at Wimbledon, Harriet clinched three ITF Pro Circuit doubles titles ($60,000 Istanbul, $60,000 Luan and $25,000 Oslo), and earned herself a year-end doubles ranking of world No.113. 

She lifted two more trophies as a result of winning $25,000 singles titles in Altenkirchen and Oslo, which enabled her to break into the Top 150 in singles by the end of the year. 

Harriet started 2019 by successfully qualifying for the Brisbane International and the Australian Open, resulting in a new career-high of world No.121.  February’s Europe/Africa Group I clash will mark her Fed Cup debut.

Katie Swan

• Age: 19
• Plays: Right-handed
• Current world ranking: 177
• Career-high world ranking: 163
• Fed Cup ties: 3
• Fed Cup win/loss record: 2/1    

Bath will be Katie's second Fed Cup appearance after making a historic debut in 2016. At the age of 16 (and 316 days), she became Britain’s youngest Fed Cup player when she was called up to play in the same Europe/Africa Group I event. After travelling to Israel with the team, she hit the ground running by winning two of her three singles matches.

The Bristol-born player has continued to hit major milestones, most signficantly at Wimbledon in 2018 when she won her first main draw match after being awarded a wild card. Katie stunned world No.36 Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 6-2 to sail through to the second round, despite being ranked 165 places below the Romanian.

Two months earlier, Katie clinched her sixth ITF Pro Circuit singles title by winning a $25,000 tournament in Spain's Monzon and she continued to play a series of tournaments before celebrating a new career-high of world No.163 in October.