British Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong says the team has “unfinished business” after reaching the semi-finals of the ‘World Cup of women’s tennis’ for the third time in the last four years. The squad suffered a blow when British No. 1 Emma Raducanu withdrew from the team event and decided to take a wildcard into this week’s WTA 500 in Seoul.
But while Raducanu suffered a crushing loss at the Korea Open, Team GB proved that they could win without her. In their quarter-final tie against Japan on Thursday, Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter stepped up to win their singles matches in straight sets, sending Britain into the semis.
The British team came painstakingly close to reaching the final of the BJK Cup Finals last year. They met Slovakia in the semis, and Boulter was a set away from victory in her singles match, but she went on to lose before Slovakia won a decisive doubles rubber.
The squad also lost to Australia at the 2022 BJK Cup Finals, which was held in Glasgow. Now, they will take on a strong American team – and they’re hungry to go all the way after some brutal near-misses.
“Yeah, look, I think there’s always going to be unfinished business in this competition for us – certainly I feel that as captain – until we one day lift the trophy,” team captain Anne Keothavong said after Kartal and Boulter’s victories.
British No. 4 Kartal, who recently suffered a drop in the rankings after her points from winning the 2024 Jasmin Open came off, maintained her unbeaten record in BJK Cup matches.
The Brighton-based star defeated Japan’s Ena Shibahara 6-3 7-6(4) in the first match of the tie. Then, Boulter stormed past Moyuka Uchijima to win 6-2 6-1, sending Britain into the last four.
GB will now face the United States for a spot in the championship tie. The Americans boast a strong team, with five top-50 singles players in Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, McCartney Kessler, and Hailey Baptiste, plus doubles world No. 1 Taylor Townsend.
The Americans defeated Kazakhstan in the first tie of the day on Thursday. Navarro beat Yulia Putintseva in a final set tiebreak before Elena Rybakina defeated Pegula. In the decisive doubles, Pegula and Townsend downed Rybakina and Putintseva.
“Yeah, they’ve got options. We’ve got options, too. They’re a strong team, but we’re also a strong team. We’re a united team,” Keothavong said ahead of the GB vs USA tie.
“Was I watching earlier? Absolutely. Pretty much most of the team were watching. We had it on in the background. We were following the match. Certainly the first match was really tight. That tie could have gone the other way.
“So look, it’s going to be tough, whoever they put out. But it’s another opportunity for us. It’s semi-finals again. We’ve shown how consistent we’ve been in recent years in this competition. We’re here for more. Yeah, we’re just going to go after it.”
Britain will take on the United States on Saturday. The winning nation will face either Ukraine, or reigning champions Italy, on Sunday.
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Content Source: www.express.co.uk