Great Britain's uphill task at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals became even harder after they lost their opening tie against Kazakhstan in Glasgow.

Harriet Dart, Britain's top player in Emma Raducanu's absence, then lost to Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

It meant the Kazakhs sealed the best-of-three tie and left Britain facing elimination before they play Spain.

Kazakhstan face Spain on Wednesday and another victory would mean they win Group C, therefore rendering Britain's match against Spain on Thursday meaningless in the context of this week's tournament.

The Finals features 12 teams split across four groups, with the winners of the round-robin stage going through to the last four.

In the opening tie of the Finals, Australia won 2-1 against Slovakia after singles wins for Storm Sanders and Alja Tomljanovic.

The Australians are ranked as the world's leading team, although these days are without former world number one Ashleigh Barty following her retirement earlier this year.

The United States and the Czech Republic are considered among the favourites - but have been drawn in the same group - while the tournament is lacking star names as only five of the world's top 20 are playing.

Britain's uphill task made even harder

Britain did not qualify for the Finals after losing to the Czech Republic in April, instead being given a spot as the host nation when Glasgow was awarded the event.

Anne Keothavong's team are ranked below group rivals Spain and Kazakhstan and their prospects of causing a shock have been hampered by the absence of star player Raducanu.

The 2021 US Open champion was ruled out by a wrist injury, but the hosts hoped Boulter - who had won seven of her eight previous singles matches in the event - and Dart would fill the void.

Boulter is a player who thrives on the big occasion, illustrated this year by her victory over former world number one Karolina Pliskova at Wimbledon, as well as her impressive record while representing Great Britain.

That looked to be a familiar plotline as she started confidently against Putintseva.

But the 26-year-old faded in the second set and also needed treatment for what she described as a "tight" calf in the decider.

Putintseva, ranked 51st in the world, showed her resilience and quality to fight back, delighting her nation's noisy travelling band of fans with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory.

The mood among the British fans in a 4,300-capacity arena, which was less than half-full, had fallen flat - and they hoped Dart could revive the atmosphere.

But the 26-year-old, who has broken into the world's top 100 this year for the first time, was outpowered by Rybakina's flat groundstrokes and also hindered by a high number of double faults.

A one-sided first set lasted little over half an hour and, although Dart showed her determination to put up a fight in the second, Rybakina had enough quality to seal a 6-1 6-4 victory.

Even though the result has been decided, the doubles rubber will still be played as it could have an impact on the final group standings.

Doubles specialists Olivia Nicholls and Alicia Barnett have been picked by British captain Keothavong and are set to make their debuts in the event.