Togetherness off the court is key to strategy of captain Anne Keothavong as Britain aim for first final since 1981

The jokes were already flying when the Great Britain team walked into the press conference room on the eve of their opening Billie Jean King Cup Finals tie in Málaga.

While Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls, the team’s resident comics, were loudly sounding out their best Australian accents, Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Emma Raducanu cracked up at their inside jokes. Alongside serious tennis ­topics, they discussed birthday banners, chocolate cakes and all the recent team bonding that had brought them closer together.