It is in the spirit of the Billie Jean King Cup that the focus should be on the collective, rather than the individual. But as the eight-team Finals begins in Shenzhen, China, there will be particular attention on Emma Raducanu’s decision to withdraw from Great Britain’s squad in order to play in the Korea Open.
Raducanu won all three of her matches at last year’s Finals as Great Britain reached the semi-finals, appearing to excel in a format that allowed the 22-year-old to represent her country. Anne Keothavong’s team play Japan in the quarter-finals on Thursday, a winnable tie that could set up a clash with either the USA or Kazakhstan in the semi-finals.
Instead, it will be down to Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage and Fran Jones to get the wins required, a task that has been made harder without the presence of the British No 1. It is unquestionably a blow to Great Britain's hopes, with the LTA expressing their “disappointment” at the decision, and one that may be hard to compute given how much Raducanu appeared to thrive in last season’s competition.
In accepting a wildcard for this week’s Korea Open, Raducanu has placed her own interests above her country. But it is also the sort of ruthlessly self-centered decision that speaks to how determined Raducanu is to improve her game and chase her goal of being seeded for the Australian Open in January.
The timing of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals is unfortunate in that it clashes with the Korea Open, where Raducanu has quarter-final points to defend. It’s the only tournament at the Asia swing where her ranking could be negatively affected, ahead of potentially gaining more ground at the premier WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan later this autumn.
Returning to the tour also gives Raducanu more time to build on her work with new coach Francisco Roig, after highlighting the improvements she felt she had made in their three weeks together before the US Open, as well as the importance of consistency.
At the same time, Raducanu did not hide away from how much work there is to do following her third-round defeat to Elena Rybakina at the US Open. After breezing through the first two rounds, Raducanu’s tournament followed the same pattern at the grand slams this season where she was beaten by the first elite opponent she played. The 6-1 6-2 against Rybakina followed two thrashings to Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, to go along with a more competitive showing against Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon.
Raducanu has lost eight matches in a row against opponents ranked in the top-10 and could face Swiatek in the quarter-finals. Raducanu’s opening match against Jaqueline Cristian was postponed on Tuesday due to rain. If she comes through the rescheduled match, she will play former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who reached the last eight of the US Open last month.
Returning to the quarter-finals is far from a guarantee, then, but Raducanu is also not the only star name to have withdrawn from the Billie Jean King Cup. Naomi Osaka pulled out from the Japan team after reaching the US Open semi-finals, leaving them somewhat short of firepower ahead of their tie against Great Britain. Coco Gauff and Madison Keys are unavailable for the USA while China’s top player Qinwen Zheng did not recover in time after missing the US Open due to injury.
Gauff, incidentally, revealed what could be true among several players as they approach the end of the season following her own exit from the US Open last month. “After the US Open for me it's just ‘improvement mode’ to get ready for Australia,” Gauff said following her defeat to Osaka in the last-16. Clearly, Raducanu believes her own “improvement mode” comes on the road and away from the team event.
It was Boulter and Kartal who led Great Britain to Shenzhen after victories over Germany and the Netherlands in qualifying - Raducanu also skipped that week to focus on a training block - so perhaps they are deserving of their shot in the Finals. Keothavong encouraged Boulter and Kartal to play doubles together at the US Open in order to forge a connection ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup.
British No 4 Jones also comes into the team after cracking the top-100 for the first time and reaching her first grand slam main draw at the US Open. The 24-year-old Jones and Raducanu are good friends, which would have added to the atmosphere that the Billie Jean King Cup can create. It’s one that Raducanu will have to do without as she looks to forge her own path forward.
