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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.
Telegraph
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
GB's Boulter and Burrage gamble pays off to book Billie Jean King Cup finals spot
British captain Anne Keothavong pulled a rabbit from the hat as her unexpected team selection overcame a dangerous Dutch outfit and claimed a place in September's Billie Jean King Cup finals. The outlook had seemed bleak when Katie Boulter, the British No 1, suffered a surprise defeat to world No 70 Suzan Lamens. Great Britain have not generally performed well in deciding doubles rubbers. And with the singles honours shared, a doubles victory became the only way to reach the finals in Shenzhen, China. Before the tie, Keothavong's team nomination had listed Harriet Dart and doubles specialist Olivia Nicholls for this third and final rubber. But these two had been well beaten on Friday by their German opponents. In all honesty, the choices did not look appetising, especially as you have to go back three years – to Glasgow in 2022 – for the last time Britain had won a deciding doubles rubber. What to do? Keothavong made a bold call by ripping up the plan at the last minute, and fielding Boulter again on the doubles court, with support from her great pal Jodie Burrage. Given the way Boulter had finished against Lamens, losing five straight games in what can only be described as a lamentable manner, this was a significant gamble. But how it paid off! Great Britain are BACK in the #BJKCup Finals 🎉 🙌 Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage book the Brits' place in Shenzhen, defeating Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs 6-2 6-2 in the doubles decider against the Netherlands! — Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) April 12, 2025 Boulter must have been utterly determined to make up for her singles underperformance, because she found a quite irresistible vein of form. She was at the heart of everything on the doubles court, whether volleying crisply or punching forehands away for winners. Burrage played a decent supporting hand but this was really Boulter's stage as she dominated from forecourt and baseline alike. After her come-from-behind win over Tatiana Maria in Friday's second singles match against Germany, Boulter has showed terrific character in this whole mini-tournament, and how she deserved the embraces of her team-mates at the conclusion of Great Britain's 6-2, 6-2 victory. Meanwhile the Dutch players shed tears of frustration and disappointment. They had made much of the running in this tie, only to be thwarted at the last. One notable detail from the doubles match was that Demi Schuurs, the experienced doubles specialist who lined up alongside Lamens for the Dutch, was broken in each of her first three service games. There is always a debate over whether to field singles players or doubles specialists in these team events, and feelings can sometimes run high – as when British singles player Dan Evans went public with his criticism of Leon Smith's Davis Cup preference for Joe Salisbury (a doubles specialist) in 2022. In this instance, Keothavong favoured the powerful serves and groundstrokes of Boulter and Burrage – two players with relatively little doubles experience – over the more specialised skills of Nicholls. At the conclusion of the tie, Burrage told the on-court announcer, 'For me, it was just [about] the energy from this team, from the crowd, from my partner, from my captain. We went out there, we gave it our all, we swung, and that's what we wanted to do, so I want to say thank you to everybody who supported me today. Definitely [there will be] a little party, a few bevvies.' Earlier, Emma Raducanu's replacement, Sonay Kartal, had given Great Britain the perfect start with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Dutch No 2 Eva Vedder. This round-robin tournament has provided a fine introduction to BJK Cup tennis for Kartal, 23, who had previously beaten Germany's Julie Niemeier on Friday. Against Vedder, Kartal was pegged back by a mid-match surge from her opponent. But in a match of long, physical rallies, her strength and stamina came to the fore, setting up a dominant deciding-set performance. Kartal's game is based around a heavy top-spin forehand which proved ideally suited to this indoor clay court. 'Physically at the end I was struggling to get through that,' said Kartal afterwards. 'The crowd helped me through, the girls on the side helped me through.' And now the whole team can look forward to a week in Shenzhen from September 16. They may well be joined by the returning Raducanu, who skipped The Hague in order to fit in what her management called a 'mini training block' ahead of the clay-court season.
The Guardian
10-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Great Britain out to demonstrate strength in depth at Billie Jean King Cup
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 the sport's flagship team competition as they face Germany on Friday and the Netherlands on Saturday in The Hague for a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. They will attempt to do so without Emma Raducanu, a key figure in the team's recent success. Last year, Raducanu led them to the Finals in Málaga with two-high quality victories against France on clay. She ended 2024 5-0 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 body 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 than 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,' said Keothavong. 'Women's tennis in Britain has come a long way. The flip side 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.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 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. Aside from Raducanu, all are present in the Netherlands. They will face tough competition from two evenly matched teams. 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 and a former US Open mixed doubles champion. Suzan Lamens is the only top 100 singles player for the Netherlands, but they also boast a notable doubles player in Demi Schuurs. Although Boulter and Kartal, if they are chosen, would enter each singles match as the higher-ranked player, the indoor clay courts will make every contest difficult. After the termination of the planned 25-year, multi-billion dollar Davis Cup agreement between Gerard Pique's Kosmos and the ITF, 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, 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 its depth by navigating a path to the final stages once again.
BBC News
10-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
BJK Cup withdrawals 'a tennis, not a player, problem'
Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong says the lack of top-20 players at the Billie Jean King Cup is "a tennis problem, not a player problem".Only three of the world's top-20 will compete in this week's qualifying rounds, with Poland's Iga Swiatek and American trio Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Madison Keys among those number two Swiatek withdrew last week, saying she needed time to "focus on myself and my training". Britain, meanwhile, are without Emma Raducanu, who has opted to train and "look after her body" after her Miami Open quarter-final run in her seventh event of the top teams in each round-robin group will advance to September's eight-team finals in Shenzhen, China."It's tough for every nation to put out their best players in each tie,' Keothavong told BBC Sport in The Hague, where Britain are in a group with Germany and the Netherlands."The calendar is just makes it so difficult for players, so I'm empathetic as to how they are. "The tennis circuit is brutal - you go from one week to the next and there's not much time to rest and recover."You have got to try and pick and choose your moments, but it's not a player problem - it's a tennis problem."One of these days maybe everyone can figure out a solution and work together." One solution is to play the Finals earlier in the season - and as Keothavong was speaking it was confirmed they will take place from 16-21 September, rather than the traditional November when the WTA Tour season is over for the year, has often proved unpopular with players, and it will now take place at the start of a seven-week run of tournaments in team includes world number 40 Katie Boulter and 60th-ranked Sonay Kartal. Harriet Dart and Olivia Nicholls are also involved, with Jodie Burrage added when Raducanu withdrew last week."Obviously it's disappointing we don't have her on this team, but I totally understand what she needs to do,' Keothavong said of Raducanu."A player has got to do what a player has got to do - what is best for them. "She has given a lot to this team and she may not be with us this time round but I hope in the future she will be." Boulter, who suffered a stress fracture of the back on national team duty in 2019, also emphasised the importance of managing your workload."I made that mistake once when I went out and played and got injured, so I've always said number one thing is your body," British number one Boulter said."You have to look after it, or else unfortunately you're not going to be playing week in week out, and that's the most important thing for me."Representing your country is an honour and a privilege and I do my very best with my body to be here every time."I think that's all we can ask of any person."Boulter will lead the British team on the clay - a surface on which she has relatively little had not played a tour-level match on clay before the Madrid Open last is likely to make her debut by taking the second singles role. She will be buoyed by her run to the last sixteen in Indian Wells last month and playing on a surface which "enhances my game style even more".GB reached the semi-finals last year, losing to eventual runners-up Slovakia.
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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.
