British captain Anne Keothavong pulled a rabbit from the hat as her unexpected team selection overcame a dangerous Dutch outfit and claimed a place in September’s Billie Jean King Cup finals.
The outlook had seemed bleak when Katie Boulter, the British No 1, suffered a surprise defeat to world No 70 Suzan Lamens. Great Britain have not generally performed well in deciding doubles rubbers. And with the singles honours shared, a doubles victory became the only way to reach the finals in Shenzhen, China.
Before the tie, Keothavong’s team nomination had listed Harriet Dart and doubles specialist Olivia Nicholls for this third and final rubber. But these two had been well beaten on Friday by their German opponents. In all honesty, the choices did not look appetising, especially as you have to go back three years – to Glasgow in 2022 – for the last time Britain had won a deciding doubles rubber.
What to do? Keothavong made a bold call by ripping up the plan at the last minute, and fielding Boulter again on the doubles court, with support from her great pal Jodie Burrage. Given the way Boulter had finished against Lamens, losing five straight games in what can only be described as a lamentable manner, this was a significant gamble. But how it paid off!
Great Britain are BACK in the #BJKCup Finals ???? ????
Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage book the Brits' place in Shenzhen, defeating Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs 6-2 6-2 in the doubles decider against the Netherlands! pic.twitter.com/AIP4IS4PbD
— Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) April 12, 2025
Boulter must have been utterly determined to make up for her singles underperformance, because she found a quite irresistible vein of form. She was at the heart of everything on the doubles court, whether volleying crisply or punching forehands away for winners. Burrage played a decent supporting hand but this was really Boulter’s stage as she dominated from forecourt and baseline alike.
After her come-from-behind win over Tatiana Maria in Friday’s second singles match against Germany, Boulter has showed terrific character in this whole mini-tournament, and how she deserved the embraces of her team-mates at the conclusion of Great Britain’s 6-2, 6-2 victory. Meanwhile the Dutch players shed tears of frustration and disappointment. They had made much of the running in this tie, only to be thwarted at the last.
One notable detail from the doubles match was that Demi Schuurs, the experienced doubles specialist who lined up alongside Lamens for the Dutch, was broken in each of her first three service games.
There is always a debate over whether to field singles players or doubles specialists in these team events, and feelings can sometimes run high – as when British singles player Dan Evans went public with his criticism of Leon Smith’s Davis Cup preference for Joe Salisbury (a doubles specialist) in 2022.
In this instance, Keothavong favoured the powerful serves and groundstrokes of Boulter and Burrage – two players with relatively little doubles experience – over the more specialised skills of Nicholls.
At the conclusion of the tie, Burrage told the on-court announcer, “For me, it was just [about] the energy from this team, from the crowd, from my partner, from my captain. We went out there, we gave it our all, we swung, and that’s what we wanted to do, so I want to say thank you to everybody who supported me today. Definitely [there will be] a little party, a few bevvies.”
Earlier, Emma Raducanu’s replacement, Sonay Kartal, had given Great Britain the perfect start with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Dutch No 2 Eva Vedder. This round-robin tournament has provided a fine introduction to BJK Cup tennis for Kartal, 23, who had previously beaten Germany’s Julie Niemeier on Friday.
Against Vedder, Kartal was pegged back by a mid-match surge from her opponent. But in a match of long, physical rallies, her strength and stamina came to the fore, setting up a dominant deciding-set performance. Kartal’s game is based around a heavy top-spin forehand which proved ideally suited to this indoor clay court.
“Physically at the end I was struggling to get through that,” said Kartal afterwards. “The crowd helped me through, the girls on the side helped me through.” And now the whole team can look forward to a week in Shenzhen from September 16. They may well be joined by the returning Raducanu, who skipped The Hague in order to fit in what her management called a “mini training block” ahead of the clay-court season.
