Billie Jean King Cup Finals 2022: Raducanu, Dart, Watson and Boulter to lead Great Britain in Glasgow
Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong has confirmed four of the squad members that will compete in the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge 2022 Finals from November 8-13 at the Glasgow Emirates Arena.
The Billie Jean King Cup is the world's largest annual women's international team sports competition, originally launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and named in honour of women’s sports pioneer Billie Jean King.
The Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team:
“This is a strong squad for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and we’re keen to finish the year on a high in front of the passionate crowds in Glasgow," said British captain, Keothavong. "All four players have experience in the competition and great memories of playing for GB.
"We will confirm the fifth team member in the coming weeks, having this competition for places is a great position to be in.”
Having the opportunity to host the finals in your home country doesn’t come around very often so we’ll do everything we can to make our fans proud.
Having played her first match for the Brits earlier this year, 2021 US Open champion, Raducanu, is aiming to impress in front of the home crowd. "Making my debut for team GB in April was a special moment that I’ll never forget," she said.
"Stepping out on court and seeing all the flags flying, all of your team cheering you on, it’s such a unique event that I’m really looking forward to experiencing again. Having the opportunity to host the finals in your home country doesn’t come around very often so we’ll do everything we can to make our fans proud.”
British No.2, Dart commeted: "“It’s an honour to be part of the first British team to compete in the Finals and even more so that it’s going to be in front of a home crowd in Glasgow. I think we’ve got one of the strongest teams we’ve had in a long time, and we can’t wait to show the fans what we’re made of. We’ve shown earlier this year that we can compete with the best countries in the world, so we’re ready to leave everything out there on the court, and we are all really excited to get started against Kazakhstan on the opening day.”
Under Bille Jean King Cup rules, the captain will be able to make up to a maximum of three changes to the team before 11am on Monday 7 November, the day before the round robin match play is scheduled. For each tie we select and announce the players who will play one hour before match time. The doubles team can be changed 15 minutes after the second singles match has finished.
The Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals will feature 12 teams who will compete in four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semi-finals. Great Britain will take on Kazakhstan and Spain in Group Stage C. GB is currently ranked 17th on the Billie Jean King Cup rankings while Kazakstan are 9th and Spain are ranked 3rd.
Great Britain's schedule
- Great Britain vs Kazakhstan - Tuesday 8 November at 16:00
- Great Britain vs Spain - Thursday 10 November at 16:00
MEET THE BRITISH TEAM
- Age: 19
- Ranking: 68
- Billie Jean King Cup ties played: 1
- Billie Jean King Cup record: 1-1
Having broken every record in the book last year at the US Open – becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam and the first British woman for 44 years – Raducanu has shown signs of reaching the peak of her powers once again this season. The 19-year-old rose to her career high ranking of 10 in the world earlier this year in only her first full year on the tour – reaching quarter-finals in Stuttgart and Washington and third rounds at WTA 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Madrid and Cincinnati. Peaking again at just the right time, Raducanu had her best result of the season in September at the Hana Bank Korea Open, where she progressed to the semi-finals but was forced to retire at one-set-all against world No.19 Jelena Ostapenko.
Back in April, Raducanu made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for the Brits in their qualifying match against 11-time champions, Czech Republic. Playing in her first competitive, tour-level match on clay, Raducanu stunned world No.50 Tereza Martincova 7-5, 7-5 in her opening match, but lost out to Market Vondrousova the following day.
- Age: 26
- Ranking: 90 (singles); 98 (doubles)
- Billie Jean King Cup ties played: 4
- Billie Jean King Cup record: 3-4
Dart’s breakthrough 2022 season has seen her rise into the top 100 for the first time in her career and achieving a new career high ranking at world No.84. The British No.2 made headlines back in March after coming through qualifying at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells to reach the fourth round – beating three players inside the top 65 along the way, including Elina Svitolina. Her strong form continued into the summer, where she progressed to her first WTA quarter-finals at the Rothesay Open Nottingham and Rothesay International Eastbourne.
The 26-year-old has also enjoyed doubles success this season. Notably, she reached the quarter-finals in Eastbourne and Monastir as well as a third round performance at Wimbledon alongside teammate Heather Watson. Dart finished runner-up at the Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby with Rosalie Van Der Hoek and recently went out in the semi-finals in Portoroz with Alexandra Panova.
Dart made her Billie Jean King Cup debut back in 2019 – where she won all three of her doubles rubbers with Katie Swan. Earlier this year she beat Linda Fruhvirtova but lost the deciding doubles match with Swan against Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova.
- Age: 30
- Ranking: 145 (singles); 122 (doubles)
- Billie Jean King Cup ties played: 33
- Billie Jean King Cup record: 30-14
Watson has had a mixed season with some big highs – most notably at Wimbledon where she had the best performance of her career. She reached the fourth round of the singles with wins over Tamara Korpatsch, Qiang, Wang and Kaja Juvan, as well as the third round of the doubles with Harriet Dart. Earlier in the year she also reached the third round of the WTA 1000 in Miami with a victory over world No.20 Elina Svitolina, as well as second rounds in Nottingham, Strasbourg, Saint Malo, Monterrey and the Australian Open.
The most experienced member of the British team, Watson made her debut back in 2011 against Switzerland, where she lost her first singles rubber, but joined forces with Jocelyn Rae to claim the Brits only match win. Her most recent tie for the Brits came at the National Tennis Centre in 2021 in a victory over Mexico – recording a singles win over Giuliana Olmos.
- Age: 26
- Ranking: 137
- Billie Jean King Cup ties played: 8
- Billie Jean King Cup record: 9-1
Boulter opened the season by winning her first singles title for four years at the W60 Grenoble – holding off a comeback from Anna Blinkova to win 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-2 in the final. Returning to action in June, the Brit enjoyed yet another strong grass court season starting in Nottingham and then progressing to a quarter-final spot at the Rothesay Classic Birmingham and the third round at the Rothesay International Eastbourne – where she defeated world No.7 Karolina Pliskova. A week later Boulter took down Pliskova once again 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 in one of the biggest wins of her career at The Championships, before bowing out in the third round. Injuries have since disrupted Boulter’s season, but in her last tournament at the end of September in Tallin, she battled through qualifying before going out to second seed Belinda Bencic.
Boulter has been prolific for the Brits in the past and boasts an impressive winning record dating back to 2018. She took to centre stage in Bath and at the Copperbox in 2019, claiming victories in her first four singles matches, before clinching an all-important win over Zarina Diyas in GB’s World Group II play-offs. Her last appearance came against Mexico in 2021, where she cruised to two straight sets wins to give the Brits a shot at reaching the Finals the following year.