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The Independent
14-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Great Britain's gamble pays off but Billie Jean King Cup desperately needs change
It took a brave roll of the dice by captain Anne Keothavong to turn the tables decisively in Great Britain's favour. Last week's Billie Jean King Cup qualifying tie hovered on a knife edge, with a deciding doubles match required to beat the Netherlands and send GB through to the Finals later this year. GB were the favourites on paper and had recent experience of making the Finals, suffering a heartbreaking semi-final loss to Slovakia just six months ago. But a tie that should have been more straightforward proved unexpectedly tricky, as is often the case at the BJK Cup. Debutant Sonay Kartal excelled, winning both of her two singles matches to demonstrate why she has soared up the rankings to world No. 59 this year. But GB's No. 1 Katie Boulter had a tougher time of it in the Hague, requiring three sets to see off the wily veteran Tatjana Maria of Germany and falling in a straight-sets loss to the Netherlands' Suzan Lamens. It was hardly surprising given she has only recently returned to action after two months out with a foot injury, and that she was rusty on indoor clay, a slower surface that neutralises her powerful style and draws out her tendency to overhit. But knowing a defeat in the concluding doubles match would send GB home empty-handed, Keothavong opted for a radical approach. Out went Olivia Nicholls, the squad's only doubles specialist and a recent Indian Wells finalist, and Harriet Dart, Keothavong's preferred pairing. In came Boulter despite her singles defeat and 175th-ranked Jodie Burrage, to face off against the Netherlands' in-form Lamens and the tie's highest-ranked doubles player, world No. 26 Demi Schuurs. Dart and Nicholls had been swept aside by Germany on Friday night, but it was still a very risky call bringing in two power hitters who have scant experience playing doubles together. Still, it paid off. Burrage in particular brought infectious energy, with the British pair smiling throughout, feeding off the support of the crowd and the rest of the team courtside, while the Dutch wilted. The pair were imperious behind the baseline, smashing in winners and overwhelming their opposite numbers, and as they steamrolled through the second set it felt like a berth in September's final had their names on it. GB once again have a very good chance of finally lifting the trophy, with Japan, the USA, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Spain, defending champions Italy and hosts China the remaining seven teams. But the BJK Cup itself remains a tournament plagued by problems. The women's 'World Cup of tennis' has been in the wilderness for a few years as it tries to figure out a real identity. It was renamed from the Fed Cup in 2020, then spent its first four years under the new name operating with home and away ties to determine qualification spots for a somewhat unwieldy 12-team Finals in one location. After the embarrassing collapse of the planned 25-year, multi-billion-dollar Davis Cup partnership between Gerard Pique's Kosmos and the International Tennis Federation, the ITF has overhauled both tournaments. That has meant that the BJK Cup Finals has been slimmed down to eight teams, mirroring the men's equivalent, with the host nation and defending champions automatically progressing. The final six are contested in a round-robin format this year; from next year the home and away ties will return. The move to slim down the tournament, and bring it in line with the men's equivalent, makes sense, especially given the legacy of the woman it is named after and her career-long fight for parity with the men's tour. But something must be done to make it more attractive to players, with many of the world's best eschewing this week's qualifying ties altogether in favour of practicing ahead of the start of the clay season. The three highest-ranked singles players named in the American squad, world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, former top-tenner Danielle Collins, and rising star McCartney Kessler, all pulled out at the last minute, while world Nos. 4, 5 and 11, Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, and Emma Navarro, were never involved. Poland were thumped 3-0 by Ukraine as they exited the tournament but were missing world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who would have been expected to make a difference. The appeal of the tournament is seeing the world's best players competing for their country, but with plenty of nations fielding a second-string team, it seems that the majority of players don't take it seriously. Considering the incredibly congested calendar, with ten mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments and ranking points to defend week in and week out, it feels hardly fair to blame the players for wanting a rare few days off. On the flip side, had more of the sport's biggest names been in action this week, more spectators might have turned up. That problem may at least be ameliorated by the return to home and away ties next year. The travelling British fans, replete with Union Jacks, bucket hats and the ever-present brass band, certainly made some noise, but the stands in the Sportcampus Zuiderpark were noticeably empty, even with the home team in action. As for those watching, or trying to, on TV: with GB's ties hidden away on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport, fans could be forgiven for not knowing the tournament was happening at all – hardly a way of keeping loyal fans engaged, or broadening the event's reach. The point is moot anyway with the decision made to move the Finals to Shenzhen. The Chinese market is lucrative for tennis' governing bodies, but does not make for a good atmosphere. (Perhaps the need to get bums on seats is why China, below every other squad into the knockout rounds at 22nd in the world rankings, have been awarded an automatic spot.) That lack of atmosphere, in turn, is hardly likely to incentivise the world's best players to make the 8,000 mile trek from the US, where the American hard-court swing will have just come to a conclusion. The BJK Cup has moved from its widely reviled November slot to mid-September, to catch players before they're exhausted at the end of the seven-week Asian hard-court season and just want to go home. But no one who has had a deep run at the US Open is going to be keen on heading out for the Asian season early and having even less time to recover. It feels like the Billie Jean King Cup has solved one problem by creating another, with what could be - and often is - a fantastic display of elite tennis hamstrung by familiar issues of the tennis tour. And until the tournament figures out what it is and what it means, it looks set to stagnate.
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The Independent
10-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
GB face new challenge at Billie Jean King Cup and must beware underdog threat
The women's tennis tour takes a rare breather this week, with the frenetic pace of the calendar slowing down just enough to allow its players the luxury of a short international break. Four of Britain's top six female singles players and its top doubles player touched down in the Netherlands on Monday, a few days ahead of their Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round. The quintet, led by captain Anne Keothavong, kick-start their 2025 campaign against Germany on Friday, before facing the host nation on Saturday. It's a simple format: six groups of three play this week, with the winners of each group advancing to the eight-nation Finals, held later this year in Shenzhen. Defending champions Italy and Finals host squad China receive an automatic bye. (The wisdom of giving the latter, ranked 22nd in the world, a guaranteed spot is up for debate). For those finishing second or third in their qualifying ties, there's no reprieve. Everything rests on this week. For GB, topping the group, and securing their tickets to Shenzhen, is a realistic goal. Britain are ranked seventh in the Billie Jean King Cup rankings, four places above Germany and ten above the Netherlands. They also have the two highest-ranked singles players in the tie in world No. 40 Katie Boulter and in-form No. 60 Sonay Kartal. The latter made the fourth round at Indian Wells last month, and would make her BJK Cup debut should she play this week. Keothavong had intended to bring an even stronger squad to the Hague, with British No. 2 Emma Raducanu – now back in the top 50 – withdrawing from the team to 'look after her body'. Her exit means a return to BJK Cup action for Jodie Burrage, a talented player who has dropped to 175th in the world after wrist surgery and an ankle injury kept her out of action for most of 2024. Completing the squad are Keothavong's likely first-choice doubles pairing of Harriet Dart and specialist Olivia Nicholls, who has been in fine form, recently reaching the women's doubles final in Indian Wells. Their opponents this week are both solid teams without any particular standout names (spare a thought for Slovakia and Denmark, who have to face world America's world No 3 Jessica Pegula and former top-tenner Danielle Collins). Eva Lys, who shot to fame with her run to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January as a lucky loser, and seemed as if she couldn't quite believe the whole experience wasn't a mad dream, leads the line for Germany. 70th-ranked Suzan Hermans, two places below Lys, is the Netherlands' highest-ranked singles player. The Dutch have a particular threat in doubles specialist and highest-ranked player Demi Schuurs, who was one-half of the team responsible for denying Nicholls a maiden WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells last month. Germany have the tricky, crafty duo of veteran Tatjana Maria and BJK Cup stalwart Laura Siegemund, the latter out for revenge after a 6-1, 6-2 hammering by Boulter in the Finals six months ago. The GB camp have looked in high spirits during their training in the Hague this week (Getty Images for LTA) But the pressure is on GB as the favourites, and even with that tag, the joy – and the frustration – of the Billie Jean King Cup is that it often doesn't go to form, or according to expectations. Boulter has had limited match time so far this season after a foot injury at the Australian Open kept her out for the next two months, and recently lost in the first round in Miami. The absence of Raducanu is another concern, with the 22-year-old often seeming to find her best tennis playing in national colours. She went unbeaten in her five BJK Cup matches last year, including a star turn on the French clay to advance to the Finals. At the time of her withdrawal from the squad – she opted for a training block instead after an intense spring of matches – she was also in some of the best form since her unexpected US Open triumph in 2021, with a run to a first-ever WTA 1000 quarter-final in Miami and a first top-ten win on hard courts under her belt. GB were narrowly beaten by Slovakia in the semi-finals last year (Getty Images for LTA) There's also the small matter of this tie being fought, once again, on indoor clay. Notwithstanding that inspired performance in Bercy last year, it's a surface that has proved tricky for generations of Brits. The timing of this international window, at the very beginning of the clay season, also means the squad has had little time to adapt from hard courts, especially for those like Nicholls and Kartal who enjoyed deep runs in California. But morale should be high in the camp as they aim to put the disappointment of last November's Finals behind them, after a narrow 2-1 loss to Slovakia in the last four. Slovakia's whole-team performance in that victory demonstrated that a well-rounded, well-drilled team can be more of a threat than a couple of star names. GB will look to combine the best of both this week – and book those flights to Shenzhen.
