Britain’s Katie Boulter looked set to cause a major upset before world number five Caroline Garcia showed her quality in the decisive moments to put France ahead in the Billie Jean King Cup.

Boulter led 4-2 in the decider before losing a compelling contest that lasted three hours and 26 minutes.

Britain’s Harriet Dart plays Alize Cornet next on Friday in the singles.

The tie in Coventry is best-of-five matches with the winner earning a spot in the finals of the women’s team event in November.

Britain reached the semi-finals of last year’s finals and are again looking to channel their underdog spirit to beat a French side that is much stronger in terms of rankings and previous pedigree.

Fired-up Boulter epitomises British underdog spirit

In front of almost 2,000 home fans, Boulter showed she is a player for the big occasion in a boisterous atmosphere, and how she thrives in the team environment, even though she was ultimately unable to get over the line against 2022 US Open semi-finalist Garcia.

With British number one Emma Raducanu again missing, captain Anne Keothavong has named the same team who reached the last four in Glasgow.

Boulter has struggled for match wins on the WTA Tour in recent months, dropping to outside the top 150 of the world rankings, but was picked as the second singles player by Keothavong.

The show of faith was repaid as Boulter demonstrated her quality and fight – as well as epitomising the togetherness which Keothavong has harnessed – to threaten a stunning win over Garcia.

“I will take that defeat to heart and it’s really going to hurt but also I know the level I’m playing at,” said Boulter, who was aiming for a third-straight win over a top-10 opponent following victories over Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year.

“It’s only a matter of time where I get those wins and get to where I want to be. I genuinely believe that it’s going to come.”

After going a break up in the decider, Boulter was well on course to earn the biggest victory of her career before Garcia upped her level amid the tension to fight back and clinch victory with her third match point.

Garcia’s relief at coming through such a bruising battle was evident as she dropped her racquet and covered her face with both hands.

“It was a crazy match, to play well over three hours is pretty rare in tennis in three sets,” said Garcia, who helped France win the tournament in 2019.

“Three tie-breaks shows how tight the match was. I had to fight and play well in a few points here and there.”