Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter lost their respective singles matches as Great Britain were beaten by a strong Czech Republic side in the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals.

Anne Keothavong’s team headed into the tie as underdogs, with all five Czech players placed higher in the singles rankings than any of the British squad.

Sonay Kartal produced a gritty performance as she returned to tennis after six months out with a lower back injury, but fell to a narrow 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-4 defeat in a marathon three-hour encounter with Marie Bouzkova.

Boulter could do little to get Britain back into the best-of-three tie as she was outplayed 6-2 7-6 (7-3) by Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.

It was a second successive loss for Boulter at the hands of a Czech player, coming just three weeks after a 58-minute demolition by Karolina Muchova at the US Open.

It is the first time since 2023 that Britain have failed to reach the semi-finals at the Billie Jean King Cup and their wait for a maiden title will go on for another year.

The Czech Republic, who are 11-time winners of the tournament and the only team boasting two top-10 players at the Finals, will face either Kazakhstan or Spain in Friday’s semi-finals.