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Watson is in second place on the list for most singles matches won by a British player in the Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup with 23Great Britain will have to fight back from behind to reach the Billie Jean King Cup final after Heather Watson lost the opening rubber of the semi-final against Australia in Glasgow.
Watson, 30, lost 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to Storm Sanders as Britain try to reach the final for the first time since 1981.
If Harriet Dart loses to Ajla Tomljanovic in the next singles rubber, Australia will secure victory.
If the Briton wins the best-of-three tie will go to a deciding doubles.
Watson was brilliant in Thursday's must-win group tie against Spain as Great Britain reached the last four, but could not reach the same level against an opponent ranked 104 places below her.
Sanders is better than her current ranking of 237 suggests, illustrated by her recent form on the ITF Tour and she has taken that into the BJK Cup Finals this week.
Starting confidently and aggressively, the 28-year-old dominated Watson from the early exchanges and that led to a break for 2-1 in the opening set from which Watson could not recover.
The British number six, backed by noisy support from the biggest crowd of the week, broke for 2-0 in the second set but could not hold on to the lead as Sanders recovered to earn her fifth win of the week.
More to follow.
English (US) ·