Five months on from the heartbreak of Málaga, where they came so close to battling for the Billie Jean King Cup trophy before succumbing to Slovakia in a brutal semi-final, Great Britain will begin their pursuit of their sport’s flagship team competition as they face Germany on Friday and the Netherlands on Saturday in The Hague for a spot in the finals.
They will attempt to do so without Emma Raducanu, a key figure in the team’s recent success. Last year, she led them to the finals in Málaga with two-high quality victories against France on clay. She ended 2024 with five wins and no defeats in the competition.
Raducanu’s absence is even more significant considering recent events. Two weeks ago, the 22-year-old made her first real breakthrough on the WTA tour since her US Open title run by reaching the quarter-finals of the Miami Open. Her team cited the need to prioritise her fitness as the main reasoning behind her decision to withdraw. The GB captain, Anne Keothavong, said on Thursday that she was empathetic of the decision.
“Naturally disappointed,” she said. “But I understand where she’s coming from. She gave a lot to this team last year and was a huge part of the reason why we achieved the success that we did. I’ve got five players here who are highly motivated, who are excited to be here and are well prepped. I really hope Emma will be part of this again in the future.”
Keothavong still boasts a solid team picked from the deepest pool of players Great Britain has had in many years. Few are as conscious of the improvement as Keothavong, whose success on the WTA tour ended a grim barren period for British women.
“I do feel in a really privileged position that we have the strength and depth,” she said. “Women’s tennis in Britain has come a long way. The flipside of that provides a lot of sleepless nights and headaches for me in trying to make a decision, but you’d much rather have it that way and have a pool of players to choose from and rely on.”
There are three British women inside the top 60 – Katie Boulter (40), Raducanu (47) and Sonay Kartal (60). Others are not so far away. Harriet Dart, who has spent the past few years inside the top 100, sits at No 108. Jodie Burrage, a late replacement for Raducanu, was a top-100 player until significant injury problems sidelined her for much of the year. Olivia Nicholls has established herself as a solid doubles player and is ranked No 31 after an impressive run to the final of Indian Wells. All are present in the Netherlands.
Germany, who Britain defeated in Málaga last year, boast three top-100 players in Eva Lys, Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund, who is also a top doubles player. Despite that, it was the Netherlands who won the opening round-robin match, with Eva Vedder – ranked 265th in the world – upsetting world No 120 Jule Niemeier in the opening rubber, winning 6-3, 6-1. Suzan Lamens, the host team’s only top-100 singles player, then defeated Maria 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead.
The doubles match saw Lamens and Demi Schuurs defeat Siegemund and Anna-Lena Friedsam 7-6 (5), 7-5 to complete a 3-0 victory for the hosts. Boulter and Kartal, if chosen, will enter all of their singles matches as the higher-ranked player, but Thursday’s result suggests that the indoor clay courts will be a great leveller.
After the termination of the planned 25-year, multi-billion-dollar Davis Cup agreement between Gerard Piqué’s Kosmos and the International Tennis Federation, and the subsequent separate transformation of the Billie Jean King Cup in line with the men’s competition, this year the ITF has reorganised both competitions.
Eight teams will contest the Billie Jean King Cup finals, down from 12 in recent years. The ITF announced on Thursday that the finals, which will take place in Shenzhen, China, has been moved forward by two months and will take place between 16 and 21 September during the WTA’s Asia swing.
With six groups in action this weekend, only the winner from each group will advance. Great Britain will hope to demonstrate their depth by navigating a path to the final stages once again.
