Lack of top players at Billie Jean King Cup 'a tennis problem', says Anne Keothavong as Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu among big names to pull out
ByOli Gent
Published 11/04/2025 at 10:18 GMT+1
Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong believes that the tennis schedule is to blame for players missing international tournaments. Keothavong is set to lead GB in The Hague for their Billie Jean King Cup qualifying matches against Germany and the Netherlands, but she will be without Emma Raducanu, who has chosen to focus on her personal fitness, similar to that of world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek y Raducanu en el Open de Australia 2025
Image credit: Getty Images
Anne Keothavong has blamed the tennis calendar as the reason why more top-20 players are not representing their nation at the Billie Jean King Cup.
Keothavong, who captains Great Britain, is missing Emma Raducanu, who has decided to focus on her own personal fitness and "look after" her body after her run to the quarter-finals at the Miami Open.
There are just three players in the WTA’s top 20 that are scheduled to feature at the international tournament, and Iga Swiatek, the Polish world No. 2, was the most recent pull-out, citing a similar reason to Raducanu in that she wanted to "focus on myself and my training".
Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, the world Nos. 3 and 4, will also not be playing, while Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion, will not represent the United States either.
Keothavong did not blame the players for their lack of participation, but instead said it was "a tennis problem".
"It's tough for every nation to put out their best players in each tie," Keothavong said.
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"The calendar just makes it so difficult for players, so I'm empathetic as to how they are. The tennis circuit is brutal - you go from one week to the next and there's not much time to rest and recover. You have got to try and pick and choose your moments, but it's not a player problem - it's a tennis problem.
"One of these days maybe everyone can figure out a solution and work together."
The BJK Cup finals are slated for September 16-21, instead of the usual November date, to limit players’ travel, with the finals coming at the beginning of the seven-week Asian hard-court swing.
At the round-robin qualifiers stage, there are six groups, with the top teams in each pool progressing into the eight-team finals that are set to take place in Shenzhen, China.
Great Britain, who reached the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, are currently in The Hague, where they face Germany and the Netherlands on clay in their round-robin matches.
The team consists of Katie Boulter, the world No. 40, and Sonay Kartal, who stormed from qualifying into the last 16 at Indian Wells, beating 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets en route to a meeting with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Harriet Dart, Olivia Nicholls and Jodie Burrage complete the squad, and Keothavong expressed her "understanding" over Raducanu’s absence.
"Obviously, it's disappointing we don't have her on this team, but I totally understand what she needs to do," Keothavong said.
"A player has got to do what a player has got to do - what is best for them.
"She has given a lot to this team, and she may not be with us this time round, but I hope in the future she will be."
Boulter, the British No. 1, spoke of the importance of looking after one’s physical wellbeing, having sustained a stress fracture in her back in 2019 while playing for GB.
"I made that mistake once when I went out and played and got injured, so I've always said the No. 1 thing is your body," she said.
"You have to look after it, or else, unfortunately, you're not going to be playing week in week out, and that's the most important thing for me.
"Representing your country is an honour and a privilege and I do my very best with my body to be here every time.
"I think that's all we can ask of any person."
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