Captain Anne Keothavong has named Emma Raducanu as part of a four-athlete playing team; Raducanu is joined by Harriet Dart, Katie Swan and Sonay Kartal; the competition takes place on April 15 and 16
Saturday 19 March 2022 20:44, UK
Emma Raducanu will make her singles debut at the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers for Great Britain against the Czech Republic in April, the LTA has announced.
The British team of Raducanu, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan and Sonay Kartal will take part in the qualifiers on April 15 and 16 against the Czech Republic.
The tie will take place on clay at the Tennis Club I.CLTK Prague, the site of the 1986 finals.
Raducanu, who has risen to world No 13 since last summer, will make her full playing debut in Great Britain's team after first being included in Anne Keothavong's side back in 2019.
"We are looking forward to the challenge of playing the Czechs," Keothavong, Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup captain said. "Emma will be making her singles debut, although she was part of our teams in 2019 and 2020.
"Harriet and Katie have been an integral part of the team the last couple of years while I'm excited to give Sonay that experience for the first time."
Every tie creates a unique pressure and intensity which I'm sure our players will thrive on and, even though we have a difficult challenge ahead against the Czechs, I have every confidence our squad will do themselves and their country proud.
Following her positive run at Indian Wells, Dart comes into the team as the new British No 2. Swan has a great history with the Billie Jean King Cup, having become the youngest British player in Cup history back in 2016.
Kartal is one of the most improved players in British tennis, with her ranking having jumped from 823 in the world to 397 with two titles at the ITF W25s in Edgbaston and Glasgow last month.
The winners of the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers will advance to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November, while the losers will go into Play-Offs for the 2023 Qualifiers.
The Finals will feature 12 teams - including top-ranked nation Australia, last year's runners-up Switzerland and eight qualifiers in four round robin groups of three teams.
Great Britain are currently ranked 15th out of 115 nations in the Billie Jean King Cup rankings, while the Czech team are ranked fifth and seeded fourth for the Qualifiers.
