No Raducanu or Boulter in GB’s BJK Cup squadImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Emma Raducanu is set to miss the tie as she competes in a WTA singles event in Germany in the same weekPublished23 minutes agoEmma Raducanu and Katie Boulter will be absent when Great Britain face Australia in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifier next month.Raducanu, the British number one and world number 24, has committed to playing the WTA 500 clay-court tournament in Linz, Austria, which runs across the same week.Boulter, ranked 64th in the world, also misses the tie.GB captain Anne Keothavong has instead selected Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic for the contest that will be staged in Melbourne on 10-11 April.A fifth player can be added to the squad nearer the time.Keothavong, who it was thought would face a tough task persuading the top British players to travel to Australia for a hard-court tie at a time when the European clay court season is getting under way, described the best-of-five encounter as “tough”.But she added: “We always embrace these weeks together as a team and will be up for the challenge.”We’ve got players with great experience in this competition in our team and it’s an exciting opportunity for Mika to join the senior team for the first time.”Kartal will be hoping to repeat the form that saw her reach the fourth round at Indian Wells this week before withdrawing with a lower back injury during her match against Elena Rybakina.
Australia have also named their squad. Talia Gibson, who has beaten three top-20 players at Indian Wells en route to the quarter-finals, is included alongside Maya Joint, Storm Hunter, Kimberly Birrell and Ellen Perez.
The eight-team Billie Jean King Cup finals will be held in Shenzhen in the week beginning 21 September. Great Britain reached the semi-finals last year.
