Great Britain's quad wheelchair tennis team secured a third place finish in their event during Friday's fifth day of action at the ITF World Team Cup in Pretoria, South Africa, while Great Britain's junior and men's teams also concluded their competitions with fourth and seventh places respectively.
Great Britain's women face Switzerland in a play-off for third place during Saturday's penultimate day of play after having their bid for a place in Sunday's final thwarted by second seeds Germany in a deciding doubles rubber in their semi-final.
Antony Cotterill gave Great Britain the advantage in the third place play-off against Canada in the quad event, defeating Adrian Dieleman 6-3, 6-3. However, Jamie Burdekin fell just short of ending the tie after both singles rubbers when he was edged out by world No. 5 Sarah Hunter 6-4, 6-4. Peter Norfolk partnered Burdekin for the deciding doubles and the Beijing Paralympic bronze medallists built a 6-1, 2-0 lead before Dieleman and Hunter had to retire, ensuring Britain a place in Saturday's medal ceremony for the top three nations.
Great Britain's juniors started a busy day by completing their semi-final against defending champions the Netherlands. With the tie level at 1-1 at close of play on Thursday, the deciding doubles proved extremely close as Dermot Bailey and Alfie Hewett attempted to upset the top seeds.
However, Rody de Bie and Jeroen Staman eventually held on to prevail 7-6(4), 6-3 for the Dutch, with Britain subsequently facing Australia in a third and fourth place play-off later in the day.
After upsetting second seeds Australia in the second of their round-robin group matches earlier in the week, Great Britain harboured hopes of a repeat performance, which Bailey kept alive after beating Henry de Cure 6-4, 6-3. However, Bailey and Josh Steels were unable to match Australia's de Cure and Keegan Oh-Chee in the doubles rubber, de Dure and Oh-Chee earning a 6-4, 6-0 victory to leave Great Britain with a fourth place finish in the event for the third successive year.
Great Britain's men ended their World Group 1 competition on a winning note after a 2-1 win over Austria in their play-off for seventh place.
David Phillipson gave Britain the best possible start with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Thomas Mossier, but world No 9 Martin Legner proved too strong for British No 1 Gordon Reid as Legner levelled the tie following a 6-3, 6-1 win. However, the last point of the contest belonged to Great Britain as Marc McCarroll teamed up with Reid to defeat Legner and Mossier 6-3, 6-3.
In the women's event third seeds Great Britain faced a tough task in their semi-final against second seeds Germany, with rising German star Sabine Ellerbrock opening the contest with a 6-1, 6-2 win over British No 3 Louise Hunt. A solid effort by Jordanne Whiley kept Britain's chances of a place in Sunday's final alive after she edged past Katharina Kruger 7-6(3), 6-4.
But with the tie coming down to the doubles rubber the in-form pairing of Ellerbrock and Kruger justified Germany's higher seeding to record a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Former two-time finalists Switzerland take on Great Britain for third place on Saturday, when British involvement in the sport's flagship international team event comes to an end.
Image - Peter Norfolk by Getty Images
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