British tennis star Emma Raducanu was left out of Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup team to face Sweden in the Play-Offs in November.
Team captain Anne Keothavong named a four-woman squad to battle Sweden at the Copper Box Arena in London from November 11th to 12th. The biggest headline was the absence of 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu who hasn't played since April due to injuries.
Raducanu underwent multiple surgeries in May without giving any timetable for her return to competition. Recently, she has been stepping up her fitness in training and has been spotted practicing on tennis courts in a bid to herself ready for the upcoming season.
Great Britain were knocked out from the qualifying round by France in April this year, and must now defeat Sweden in a Play-Off tie to return to the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers next year.
Raducanu made her debut in the team competition in 2022, winning her match against Czech Tereza Martincova before losing her second singles match against Marketa Vondrousova.
Anne Keothavong has selected British No. 1 Katie Boulter to lead the line. Boulter touched the world's Top 50 for the first time this season and won her maiden career title in Nottingham. She'll be buoyed to keep translating Tour-level success to the Billie Jean King Cup.
The 27-year-old will be joined by Jodie Burrage, a Top 100 entrant this year. World No. 145 Harriet Dart accounted for big wins over Paula Badosa and Ajla Tomljanovic at last year's tournament and is rewarded with a spot in the team. The experienced Heather Watson also made the cut.
"I’m delighted that all of our strongest ranked players have made themselves available for the Billie Jean King Cup tie versus Sweden next month. We are very excited to have yet another opportunity to play in front of a home crowd, especially at the Copper Box Arena where the fans were so instrumental in helping get us over the line when we last played there a few years ago."
"Finally, being able to captain this team is always a huge privilege and to bring live tennis back to where I grew up, means a great deal to me on a personal level."
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