Emma Raducanu initially signed up to represent Great Britain at the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, but she has now withdrawn from the competition.
Tennis players don't get a chance to represent their countries often. They have a chance to do so every four years at the Olympics, and then a couple of times each year at the Billie Jean King Cup (for men, it's the Davis Cup).
Unfortunately, it's not only the sole team competition in tennis, but also the tournament that often faces the most withdrawals from players. For a few years now, the team competitions have been trying to find a suitable spot in the calendar, but they still can't avoid frequent withdrawals from players.
Great Britain made it to this year's Finals. The country played in Group F in the Qualifiers stage, taking on the Netherlands and Germany. Team Captain Anne Keothavong selected Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage, and Olivia Nicholls to represent Great Britain.
Initially, Emma Raducanu was supposed to be part of the squad as well, but she withdrew from the qualifiers. Even without her, Great Britain made it to the Finals stage, beating the Netherlands 2-1 and Germany 3-0.
The 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals will be played from September 16th to 21st in Shenzhen, China, and the draw for the event has already been announced. Great Britain will take on Japan on September 18th in their quarter-final tie.
However, the British team will have to play without their highest-ranked player on the WTA Tour, as Raducanu won't play at the event. That means Keothavong's team currently consists of Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, and Jodie Burrage, with one member likely to join these three players.
Japan, led by captain Ai Sugiyama, will play in China with Naomi Osaka, Moyuka Uchijima, Ena Shibahara, Eri Hozumi, and Shuko Aoyama. That line-up is, of course, also subject to possible changes and withdrawals.
What will Emma Raducanu do instead of competing at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals
This time, there isn't an injury behind Raducanu's decision to withdraw from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Instead of competing in China, she will accept a wild card to the Korea Open in Seoul, according to journalist James Gray.
The tournament in Seoul starts on September 15th, and it's a WTA 500 tournament. Ranked 30th in the 2025 WTA Race, Raducanu is chasing a seeding spot at next year's Australian Open, so earning ranking points in Seoul could be valuable for her.
After that, Raducanu should compete at the China Open in Beijing, which is a WTA 1000 tournament. That is an event that the vast majority of the players will play.
When it comes to the Billie Jean King Cup, Raducanu will complete the 2025 season without representing her country. She last played at the event at the 2024 Finals, beating Germany's Jule Niemeier, Canada's Rebecca Marino, and Slovakia's Viktoria Hruncakova.
New coach is one of the reasons behind Raducanu's withdrawal
According to journalist James Gray, one of the reasons why Raducanu withdrew from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals is the extra time she will be able to spend with her new coach, Francisco Roig.
Rafael Nadal's ex-coach replaced Mark Petchey, who spoke to OLBG about their partnership, thinking it's an excellent opportunity for the Brit.
"The way we stopped working together was totally amicable. My job at the start with her was going to be just Miami. Then obviously it became longer through to Wimbledon, and then obviously she had three days with Francis Roig, Rafael Nadal’s former coach, after Wimbledon and that went well."
"But he couldn’t start due to other commitments until Cincinnati. So, around the work stuff that I have, we stayed in contact, and I helped her up in Montreal as best I could. But eventually my commitments were going to be too much to be a lead person for her in that environment."
"I think it’s really a great opportunity for her to work with somebody like Francisco, who has worked with one of the best players of all time. To have time alone with Francisco, to work on the stuff is a golden opportunity for her and him to try to take her game to the next level, where she’s going to be able to win Grand Slams."
"My only ever goal in coming back was to make sure that I could help her; but when a better opportunity looks like it’s presented itself, which it has, it’s like, 'Well, this is it. Grab it with both hands. Get stuck in.' I think they’ll be great. I think they’ll be a great partnership. I’m super happy for her and I’m super excited about her potential."
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