Britain tipped to cope without Emma Raducanu in Billie Jean King Cup

Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong backs her team to do a ‘great job’ in their Billie Jean King Cup clash with France in the absence of Emma Raducanu… after the former US Open champion opted to skip the tie to start her clay-court season

  • Emma Raducanu has opted not to play in Britain’s tie with France in Coventry
  • The former US Open champion is preparing to play on clay in Stuttgart instead
  • GB captain Anne Keothavong expects her team to cope without Raducanu 

While Emma Raducanu prepares for this season’s first outing on clay, Britain’s best of the rest will battle it out with France to see who can reach the Billie Jean King Cup finals this year.

Ahead of this qualifying round at the home of Coventry City, GB captain Anne Keothavong was keen not to dwell on the absence of her number one player, who is in Stuttgart preparing for the Porsche Grand Prix event on the WTA Tour.

Raducanu’s comment last month that she was unaware when this tie was taking place did not go down a storm with her team-mates, but Keothavong stressed she will welcome her back. 

There is also some understanding that the abrupt switch from hard court to the indoor clay of Stuttgart – a tournament with whom she shares a sponsor – is not ideal for one so injury-prone.

Keothavong has stuck with the squad who outperformed themselves by making the last four of the 2022 Finals, held in Glasgow.

Emma Raducanu will not play in this weekend’s Billie Jean King Cup match with France

GP captain Anne Keothavong (above) has backed her team to shine without Raducanu


Katie Boulter (left) and Harriet Dart (right) will represent GB against France in Coventry

That selection in itself is not without controversy as Jodie Burrage, Britain’s second highest ranked player at 109, has been overlooked again.

Instead singles duty has been allocated to Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter, one of a group clustered behind her whose natural abilities suggest they ought to be better positioned on the rankings than they are.

‘These players did a great job in Glasgow. I’m sure they’ll do a great job this week,’ declared Keothavong, whose doubles pairing Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls also exceeded expectations in Scotland.

The best player on show will be world number five and US open semi-finalist Caroline Garcia, who has decided that she can manage both Coventry and Stuttgart.

She ought to tilt the balance in favour of the visitors, but these are relatively fallow times for elite tennis in France, a traditional powerhouse nation.

Their second player, 33 year-old Alize Cornet, is ranked 70 and has had a poor season. She is definitely vulnerable, although neither Dart nor the talented Boulter have pulled up any trees so far in 2023.

The WTA Tour has confirmed that its tournaments will return to China later this year, as revealed in Sportsmail. 

The women have not played there since the disappearance of Chinese player Peng Shuai in November 2021, although that would not have been possible anyway amid heavy Covid restrictions.

GB v France. Friday 2pm BBC IPlayer/Red button: K. Boulter v C. Garcia; H. Dart v A. Cornet. 

Saturday noon: Dart v Garcia; Boulter v Cornet; Nicholls/Barnett v Mladenovic/Garcia.

Source: Read Full Article