Analysis
Three takeaways from the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals
Great Britain’s run at the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup came to an end in the semi-finals against a strong USA team, including top-20 singles stars and former Grand Slam doubles champions. We look back at GB’s ties from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and pick out our three biggest takeaways.
Kartal is quickly becoming an integral part of the GB team
Before this year, British No.4 Sonay Kartal had never played a competitive match for the Lexus Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team – but the 23-year-old from Brighton has proved herself an outstanding addition to Captain Anne Keothavong’s side.
In the Qualifiers earlier this season, Kartal made a dream debut for GB with two singles victories in crucial ties against Germany and Netherlands on the clay.
Heading into the Finals in Shenzhen, the pressure went up a notch and so did Kartal’s performances.
The young Brit set the tone for Great Britain in the first rubber of the quarter-final tie against Japan – beating Ena Shibahara in straight sets to give the Brits a valuable platform to book their place in the final four.
Heading into the semi-final against USA, Kartal and the British team came in as underdogs, knowing that they would have to produce their best to take down a strong American team.
Kartal once again rose to the occasion against world No.18 and former US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro. The British star showed just how far her game has come in the last 12 months and dominated the opening set and a half with real intensity to her performance. Kartal was able to control the rallies and dictate play off her forehand, forcing the American to step up another level to get back in contention.
Despite an inspired comeback victory from Navarro, Kartal can take plenty of positives from such a gutsy display on the biggest stage and has shown she can bring her best when representing her country.
‘New version’ of Boulter ready to build on momentum
Following Great Britain’s dominant victory over Japan in the quarter-final, British No.2 Katie Boulter said she felt like a ‘new version’ of herself.
Heading to Shenzhen, Boulter had been on a patchy run of form, with tough draws and first round exits at the US Open, National Bank Open and Cincinnati Open.
Following her exit from New York, Boulter returned home to recharge and prepare for the challenge ahead at the Billie Jean King Cup – which certainly seemed to help.
Boulter was in dazzling form against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima – winning 6-2, 6-1 to secure Great Britain’s place in the semi-finals.
After the win, Boulter said: “I’m really looking forward to building some momentum off this. I think having the girls around really helps pick me up. I feel like I know what my identity is on the court, what I'm trying to do.”
Her form carried over into the semi-finals where she faced a tough challenge against world No.7 Jessica Pegula.
Boulter always brings her best tennis when representing GB – with 17 Billie Jean King Cup wins to her name – and made an impressive start against the 2024 US Open runner-up, taking the opening set in convincing fashion.
Pegula raised her game in the second and third sets – particularly on the return of serve – to seal a comeback win, but Boulter looked far removed from the player recently taking opening round exits on tour.
With the Asian swing now coming up, on a hard court surface that favours Boulter’s game style – the 29-year-old will be hoping to channel these performances to finish her season on a high.
Great Britain cement place amongst the world’s elite
In 2019 the Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team were fighting it out in the Europe / Africa Zone Group I in the previous format of the competition – away from the world’s leading teams.
Fast forward six years and Great Britain has now featured in the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup three times since 2022 and have fully cemented their place amongst the world’s elite.
In fact, in the most recent rankings ahead of the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Great Britain were the No.2 team in the world, thanks to their consistency of performance over the last few years.
This year was equally as impressive. Facing two Qualifiers in an away venue on clay, the Brits saw off two strong teams in Germany and Netherlands, and then thrashed Japan in the quarter-finals.
In a semi-final where the Brits came up against higher ranked players in every match – the team had their chances to cause what would have been a big upset.
Kartal led by a set and a break against Navarro and Boulter looked to have the upper hand over Pegula after the first set – but ultimately their consistency and level in the big moments helped them through.
With another year of experience at this stage in the Billie Jean King Cup and the array of talent continuing to push through, including teammates Francesca Jones and Jodie Burrage, as well as Emma Raducanu still to come back – this British side are now one of the powerhouses in this competition.