Great Britain have it all to do on day two of their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against France, who gleaned a 2-0 advantage at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday.
During a pair of nail-biting singles matches where every set went to a tie-breaker, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart came unstuck against Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet respectively.
Boulter gave world number five Garcia an excellent run for her money in their three-set showdown, but she ultimately succumbed to a 7-6[2] 6-7[4] 6-7[2] in three hours and 26 minutes.
Boulter saved 12 of the 15 break points that she faced on the day and gave herself a fighting chance of a shock result with nine sublime backhand winners, but Garcia rose to the challenge in the final tie-breaker to put France 1-0 up.
Following her compatriot's defeat, Dart also played out a similarly tense battle with Cornet, which ended in a 7[6]-3 7[3]-6 defeat in two hours and 27 minutes.
The 26-year-old came up with 30 winners compared to Cornet's 11, but an unsightly unforced error count of 54 bedevilled her, leaving GB at risk of missing out on a place in the finals.
Dart is first up on Saturday against Garcia before Boulter takes on Cornet, and the tie will conclude with Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls battling Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the final doubles rubber.
Great Britain reached the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup under Anne Keothavong last year, but there have been a mere seven comebacks from a 2-0 deficit in the current best-of-five format since 1995.
Ben Knapton
