Great Britain have missed out on a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup finals courtesy of a comprehensive 3-1 defeat to France in their two-day qualifier.
Anne Keothavong's team entered Saturday's matches with a 2-0 deficit to try to overturn from Friday, where Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet beat Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart respectively.
Dart tried to avenge Boulter's defeat to Garcia in the first battle of the day, but the world number five recovered from a second-set blip to triumph 6-1 6-7[10] 6-1.
Garcia's success sent France through to the final at GB's expense, only five months after Keothavong's identical squad reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1981.
However, there was something for the Coventry Building Society Arena crowd to cheer, as Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls beat Clara Burel and Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 3-6 11-9 in their doubles dead rubber.
"The players should feel proud of themselves. It hasn't been the easiest of years for any of our players on the team, but they've gone out there and there have been times where they've shown what they're capable of," Keothavong told BBC Sport after GB's defeat.
"Now it's important that they're able to take all the good stuff that they get from these weeks into their next tournament and continue to build on their season."
GB will now gear up for a playoff tie in November for the chance to enter the 2024 qualifiers, where Emma Raducanu could return after missing April's matches due to her clay-court commitments in Stuttgart.
Ben Knapton
