This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Britain’s Tara Moore staged one of the more remarkable comebacks in tennis history on Tuesday – saving a match point at 0-6, 0-5 down and going on to win the match.

Moore, the current British No 9, was facing France’s Jessika Ponchet in the first round at the ITF World Tour event in Sunderland, and had looked set to be outclassed by an opponent ranked almost 300 places above her.

Tara Moore says astonishing tennis comeback is ‘enormous boost’ to career Read more

Serving to avoid a “double-bagel” defeat, Moore fell 30-40 behind – but her luck changed on match point, as an overhead smash clipped the net cord and landed on the line. From there, the 26-year-old held serve and rallied in spectacular fashion, winning six games on the trot before taking the tie break 9-7.

Moore continued the fightback in the deciding set, winning 6-3 to set up a last-16 tie against Germany’s Yana Morderger or Romania’s Elena-Teodora Cadar. After the match, Moore joked on social media that the result was “never in doubt” – in response to a clip of her fortuitous shot to save match point.

Tara Moore (@TaraMoore92) Lololol 🙂🙃🙂🙃 never in doubt #dontcallitacomeback

Moore will hope that the unexpected comeback can give her a boost after struggling with form and injuries since a memorable run at Wimbledon three years ago, where she reached the second round before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in three hard-fought sets.

From a career-high of No 145 in 2017, Moore has dropped to No 479 – but events on Tuesday suggest she never knows when she’s beaten. Ponchet will get an immediate chance for revenge, however – the pair are scheduled to play each other in the doubles later today.

Quick guide Follow Guardian sport on social media Show Hide Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Facebook: like our football and sport pages Instagram: our favourite photos, films and stories YouTube: subscribe to our football and sport channels Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images Europe

Keothavong names Fed Cup squad for Kazakhstan tie

Great Britain’s Fed Cup captain, Anne Keothavong, has named her “strongest possible” squad for their World Group II play-off against Kazakhstan later this month.

British No 1 Johanna Konta will be joined by Heather Watson, Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Katie Swan as the team bid to reach the World Group for the first time in 26 years.

“I’m delighted to name our strongest possible team,” Keothavong said. “There is little to separate the two teams in terms of rankings, but I’m confident the home fans will give all our players an inspirational lift just like we had in Bath in February.”

The tie will take place at London’s Copper Box Arena on 20 and 21 April – close to Keothavong’s childhood home in Hackney. The team qualified by winning ties against Slovenia, Greece, Hungary and Serbia in Bath.



