Johanna Konta and Heather Watson hand Great Britain Fed Cup victory over Estonia
The British number two saw off Diana Marcinkevic 6-3 6-0 in a little over an hour before Konta continued the momentum with a 6-2 6-3 win against Jelena Ostapenko
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Your support makes all the difference.Johanna Konta and Heather Watson secured Great Britain another victory in their Fed Cup campaign after winning both of the singles rubbers against Latvia in Tallinn.
Britain, under the leadership of new captain Anne Keothavong, had opened their Euro/Africa Zone Group I Pool C round-robin fixtures by completing a 3-0 whitewash of Portugal on Wednesday.
Another dominant display followed on Thursday morning as first Watson, the British number two, saw off Diana Marcinkevic 6-3 6-0 in a little over an hour.
Konta, who as world number 10 is the highest ranked player in the zonal group, then continued the momentum with a 6-2 6-3 win against Jelena Ostapenko.
After coasting through the first set, Konta, who reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, faced a more determined Ostapenko as the world number 35 looked to force home some break chances of her own.
However, Konta managed to hold and subsequently broke the 19-year-old again to move 4-1 ahead before serving for the match.
Ostapenko, though, broke back at 5-2 only to see Konta rally from love-40 down and secure victory against the serve.
Great Britain, seeded third of the 14 nations competing in Estonia, will take an unassailable 2-0 lead into the doubles rubber, where Laura Robson later teams up with Jocelyn Rae against Ostapenko and Marcinkevic.
The final Pool C fixture is against Turkey on Friday.
Should Keothavong's squad secure top spot, they would then play off against the winners from Pool B on Saturday for the chance to progress to a World Group II promotion play-off in April.
Watson, 24, believes squad unity has been the key to a successful start under Keothavong, who took over as Fed Cup captain from Judy Murray.
"It is really fun. Last night we played 'heads up', which is one of my favourite games," Watson said in a video interview with British Tennis on Twitter.
"There is a lot of banter flying about so I am enjoying it."
Konta also felt the Latvia match was a step up in quality.
She said to British Tennis: "We knew coming in today that Latvia were going to be a strong team.
"It is never easy, no matter who you are playing in the Fed Cup, as a lot of players raise their level and play without inhibitions, so it can be tricky out there.
"The scoreline doesn't suggest it was as difficult as it felt, because it was hard. I knew I had to stay patient and that whenever I got the opportunity, then I had to go for them."
Konta believes she can get a lift on the court from being part of a team set-up.
"I'm really enjoying it. I didn't get the chance to play it last year so from the very beginning of the season I was clear that I wanted it to be part of my schedule, if I was healthy," she added.
"The Olympics was one of the best experiences of my life so whenever I get the opportunity to represent Great Britain in a team environment I look to take it."
Latvia decided not to send out Ostapenko for the doubles match, so she was replaced by 16-year-old Daniela Vismane.
The British pair wasted little time taking the first set 6-0 in just 23 minutes.
However, Latvia rallied in the second set, which was locked at 4-4 until Britain finally forced home a break which left Rae to serve out for the match.
The 25-year-old, though, then failed to hold her serve as Latvia recovered only for the British duo to again break and lead at 6-5, but this time Robson could not deliver either and so the set went to a tie-break.
Britain forced an early mini-break against the Vismane serve, but Latvia went ahead 5-2 before the 16-year-old served out for the set.
Latvia could not continue their momentum into the decider, with a break and then hold for Britain in game seven putting them on course to finally wrap up the win.
Great Britain's 6-0 6-7 (2/7) 6-2 victory in the doubles completed a second successive 3-0 overall victory, which leaves them in pole position to reach Saturday's play-off.
PA
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