Jodie Burrage has been called up to replace Emma Raducanu in Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup squad that goes into action on Friday in the 2025 Qualifiers against the Netherlands and Germany in Group F.
With the change in format, the competition will be even more challenging, but I’m confident I’ve got a group of players who will rise to the occasion and give it their best. Representing our country is always an honour, and we look forward to the challenge with the fans’ support behind us.
Anne Keothavong, Billie Jean King Cup Team GB Captain
Team GB, who made the semi-finals of the team competition last year, includes two Top 100 singles players in Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal, as well as former World No 70 Harriet Dart, Burrage, and British doubles No 1 Olivia Nicholls.
Raducanu withdrew from this year’s Qualifier ties in the Netherlands last week, citing the need for training over matches to build up her strength ahead of the clay-court season.
Speaking after Raducanu’s withdrawal, team Captain Anne Keothavong stated: “I recognise this has been a difficult decision for Emma. Of course, you always miss a player of her quality on the team; we’ve seen what she can do in the past representing her country, but I have the utmost belief in the players who are travelling next week and will confirm a 5th player in due course.”
The Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge is dubbed the World Cup of Tennis, with more than 100 countries involved, and is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport.
Burrage will make her 3rd appearance at the event, having made her debut against Sweden in 2023.
The Brit has had various injuries recently but picked up the WTA100 title in Dubai and gained wins at the year’s first Grand Slam.
Reacting to the inclusion, Burrage wrote on Instagram: “Very excited to join these girls.”
Commenting on the squad, and the upcoming Qualifiers, Keothavong said: “I’m incredibly proud to name these players to represent Great Britain on the Billie Jean King Cup team.
“With the change in format, the competition will be even more challenging, but I’m confident I’ve got a group of players who will rise to the occasion and give it their best.
“Representing our country is always an honour, and we look forward to the challenge with the fans’ support behind us.”
Team Britain will need to come first in their group in order to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals later in 2025.
Katie Boulter led Team GB to the semi-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, last year
© Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA
Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team
Katie Boulter, World No 39: The British No 1 has been a mainstay in the GB team since her debut in 2019 and boasts an impressive record in the competition. Last year, she won 3 matches in ties against France, Germany, and Canada to help GB secure a place in the semi-finals.
On tour, Boulter has cemented herself among the top players on the WTA Tour. The 28-year old won 2 titles last year in Nottingham and San Diego, as well as reaching a career-high at No 23.
So far, in 2025, she has played a key role in GB’s quarter-final run at the United Cup and made the 2nd-round at the Australian Open.
Sonay Kartal, World No 61: Kartal has been in the form of her life over the last 6 months, winning her first WTA title in Monastir at the end of last season and reaching the 4th-round of the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells as a lucky loser. The 23-year-old recorded wins over Varvara Lepchenko, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Polina Kudermetova before losing out to World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Last 16.
This will be the second time that Kartal has been part of the BJK Cup team, having linked up with the Brits for an away tie against Czechia in Prague in 2021, and although she did not feature in GB’s 3-2 loss, that experience will be valuable heading to The Hague.
Harriet Dart, World No 109 / World No 62 – doubles: Dart arrives in the Netherlands full of confidence following her recent form on the ITF Tour, having reached her first final of the year at the W75 Porto, where she narrowly missed out on the silverware to Canada’s Victoria Mboko.
Prior to that, she also reached the 2nd-round at the Australian Open after winning her 1st-round match against Jana Fett as a lucky loser.
The British No 4 always manages to dig deep and rise to the occasion at BJK Cup ties, time and again producing some of her best tennis while representing Great Britain, and recording wins over former World No 2 Paula Badosa and 2022 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic.
Her extensive experience of competing on the team, combined with her reliable singles and doubles play, make her a great option for Keothavong in the upcoming Qualifiers.
Jodie Burrage, World No 174: Part of the squad against Mexico in 2021 and making her debut against Sweden in 2023, Burrage joins the team for a 3rd time in The Hague. The former British No 2 has come back from injury at the end of last season with a series of great results, including a career-best title at the W100 Dubai, a final at the W75 Trnava, and semi-final runs at the W75 Glasgow and W50 Funchal.
She has returned to the WTA Tour in 2025 and picked up wins at the Australian Open, ASB Classic, and ATX Open.
Burrage is a previous Lexus Nottingham Open runner-up and, before her injuries, reached a career-high of No 85 in 2023.
Olivia Nicholls, World No 31 – doubles: Completing the squad is Nicholls, the only doubles specialist on the team.
It has been 3 years since Nicholls made her BJK Cup debut at the 2022 Finals in Glasgow. Since then, she has gone on to compete in 5 ties for her country, with her latest appearance at last year’s Finals in Malaga, where she and Heather Watson were defeated in the semi-finals.
The doubles British No 1 has made a strong start to the new season. Last month, she and Australia’s Olivia Gadecki reached the semi-final at the Abu Dhabi Open, while she has also reached the Last 4 at the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells alongside Tereza Mihalikova.
Team GB, in a must-win effort, takes on the Dutch and German teams under the new round-robin format for this year’s Qualifiers, with the top nation from the week heading to the Finals later this year.
The ties will be played at Sportcampus Zuiderpark, The Hague, on indoor clay courts.
The remaining two teams will have to play in the Billie Jean King Cup Play-Offs for the chance to return to the Qualifiers in 2026.
Group F schedule at the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers
- Thursday 10 April, 11.00 GMT: Germany vs Netherlands
- Friday 11 April, 12.00 GMT: Great Britain vs Germany
- Saturday 12 April, 12.00 GMT: Great Britain vs Netherlands
All the action from the Lexus GB team’s matches will be available to watch on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer as well as the Tennis Channel.
All the other matches from the Group F Qualifiers will also be available live on Tennis Channel.
