By Tony Fairbairn
- Group F: Great Britain [6], Germany, Netherlands
- Katie Boulter is targeting winning the Billie Jean King Cup over the next few years after semi-final heartbreak in 2024.
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS – Katie Boulter is targeting a title for Great Britain in the Bille Jean King Cup over the next few years as Great Britain aim to qualify for the finals in the Netherlands.
 |
|---|
It’s time for the Billie Jean King Cup once again as Great Britain once again start their bid for the title.
Last year the British team knocked out France in the qualifiers before reaching the semi-finals before a heartbreaking defeat to Slovakia.
This time Anne Keothavong’s side are aiming to go a couple of steps further but will need to overcome a new format to do so.
Just like the Davis Cup, this year’s Billie Jean King Cup has been re-formatted with this year seeing a round-robin phase as the qualifiers.
There are six groups of three with the winners of each group qualifying for the finals which this year will take place in Shenzhen.
The six winners will then join defending champions Italy as well as hosts China for a final eight tournament to determine the winners of the 2025 edition.
As for the remaining 12 countries, they will compete in play-offs with 9 nations from World Group I to determine who competes in next year’s qualifiers.
Here are the groups with Groups B, D, E and F taking place between Thursday 10th– Saturday 12th of April while groups A and C taking place between Friday 11th– Sunday 13th of April.
(C) = Choice of ground
Group A
Canada [1]
Romania
Japan (C)
Group B
Czech Republic [2] (C)
Spain
Brazil
Group C
Slovakia [3] (C)
USA
Denmark
Group D
Australia [4] (C)
Kazakhstan
Colombia
Group E
Poland [5] (C)
Switzerland
Ukraine
Group F
Great Britain [6]
Germany
Netherlands (C)
 |
|---|
Boulter targets title in future ahead of Dutch test
As explained above Great Britain are in the Netherlands for their qualifiers campaign with Germany also participating in The Hague.
The British team includes Harriet Dart, Sonay Kartal, Olivia Nicholls and Jodie Burrage who replaces Emma Raducanu in the team with the former US Open champion withdrawing.
However headlining the team as usual it’s British number one Katie Boulter who is particularly motivated for success this year after her painful singles defeat to Slovakia.
The British number one hasn’t been in the best form this season as she has struggled with injury.
However, Boulter has said that she feels better now and has stated that it is a goal of hers to win the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I’ve definitely made it a goal of mine to win the tournament in the coming years so hopefully we’ll keep going and this is the first stepping stone towards that. We just need to go out and enjoy the moment and have fun,” Boulter told the LTA website.
“Being back in the team is a massive privilege. I’ve played the Billie Jean King Cup for seven years now and every time I get selected I relish the opportunity to come out and represent my country. It means so much to me.
“We had a great run to the semi-finals (last year), unfortunately we didn’t go any further but it just reminded me that we can win this competition. We were all pretty devastated after the last one, but it’s a good place to be – reaching the semi-finals is an achievement in itself.
“I feel like I’ve already made improvements compared to the start of the clay court season last year. Having an injury it’s always going to be brutal coming back. For some reason whenever I get an injury it seems to be a bit more serious than just one week out which is unfortunate.
“It’s been tough and it’s an injury I’ve managed over the last few weeks. Coming back at Indian Wells and Miami I could have taken a bit more time but I didn’t want to, I wanted to go and play and keep some of the momentum going from Australia, where I thought I was playing some of my best tennis.
“I think it just reminds me of the perspective of being out there on court and never taking that for granted. I’m just happy to be back out there and I’m in a place ready to play some matches.”
First up for the British team will be a Germany side that is headlined by Laura Siegemund and Jule Niemeier with that match taking place on Friday.
On Saturday, Britain will then take on hosts the Netherlands which have doubles specialist Demi Schuurs as their main threat.
Team Nominations
Great Britain [6]
Katie Boulter
Jodie Burrage
Harriet Dart
Sonay Kartal
Olivia Nicholls
Captain: Anne Keothavong
Germany
Eva Lys
Tatjana Maria
Jule Niemeier
Laura Siegemund
Anna-Lena Friedsam
Captain: Rainer Schuettler
Netherlands
Anouk Koevermans
Suzan Lamens
Demi Schuurs
Eva Vedder
Captain: Elise Tamaela
How to Watch/Follow Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers 2025
| Live Stream | Tennis Channel International |
| Live Scores | Tennis Scores Powered By TNNSLIVE |
| Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
|---|---|
| Soundcloud | |
| YouTube | |
| We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website | |