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Great Britain’s team for the Billie Jean King Cup has been finalised after Emma Raducanu was forced to withdraw after failing to recover from a wrist injury in time to compete for her country. Team captain Anne Keothavong has named four of her five-woman squad before the British No 1 withdrew and has now announced the last two players to complete the line-up.
Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls have both received a call-up for the BJK Cup for the first time in their careers, coming at the toughest state possible in the event dubbed the World Cup of women’s tennis – the Finals week. Britain’s squad was left two members short when Raducanu recently withdrew, as one final player was yet to be announced.
And team captain Keothavong has opted to replace the 2021 US Open champion with the country’s top-ranked women’s doubles pairing, who will join existing team members Katie Boulter, Heather Watson and Harriet Dart in Glasgow later this month. It comes after the duo won their maiden WTA Tour title in Granby earlier this season.
Barnett became the British No 1 woman in doubles off the back of their title win in August after duo beat fellow Brit and BJK Cup teammate Dart in the final, who teamed up with Rosalie Van der Hoek. The 29-year-old has since gone on to reach a career-high WTA doubles ranking of world No 59, currently sitting one place lower at 60.
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