Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage doubles act sends Britain to BJK Cup Finals

With Great Britain’s presence at the Billie Jean King Cup this year hanging in the balance, their pivotal contest with the Netherlands tied at 1-1, Anne Keothavong made a dramatic call. Instead of the doubles specialist, Olivia Nicholls, present in The Hague precisely for these matches and with Harriet Dart positioned as the first-choice doubles team, the British captain chose to rely on the pure firepower provided by her singles players.

It turned out to be a stroke of genius. Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage, both ranked outside the top 250 in doubles and with minimal experience together, produced an inspired performance to lead their team to victory with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs.

After defeating Germany 2-1 on Friday, Great Britain’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands qualified them for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, an eight-team knockout tournament that takes place in Shenzhen, China after the US Open in September.

“Today, they executed the game plan as well as they could have done and just overpowered the opposition,” said Keothavong. “In terms of the decision-making process, it was always an option for us which I had up my sleeve and they went out there and did the job.”

In the absence of Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal opened the tie with another assured performance by defeating Eva Vedder 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. This week has marked another step forward in her evolution after a career-best year in which the 23-year-old has established herself inside the top 100 at No 60.

Sonay Kartal won singles rubbers in each of Great Britain’s victories against Germany and the Netherlands. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA

Kartal’s victory set the stage for a battle of the No 1 singles players. Lamens, ranked No 70, has quickly established herself as a tough opponent for all. While Boulter has made improvements on clay, an in-form, top-100 opponent is still a significant challenge for her on a surface that blunts her power and often exposes her lack of adaptability. On this occasion, Lamens was a step too far as she fell 6-4, 6-3.

Great Britain boast a solid pool of singles players, but their doubles lineups had become a notable weakness. Last year, Nicholls and Heather Watson were flattened in the decisive doubles rubber of the BJK Cup semi-finals against Slovakia. On Friday, Nicholls, the doubles No 31, and Dart were similarly dominated by a German team that had been defeated ˆby Lamens and Schuurs one night earlier.

Instead of relying on the same duo, Keothavong opted to take a risk. Although Boulter and Burrage are close friends, this decisive rubber marked just the second time that they had ever played together, their only other match a first-round loss at Nottingham in 2021. Sometimes, two quality tennis players in one team is enough.

“I think we just have a great connection off the court,” said Boulter. “I think we’re very comfortable with each other, and I think we just trust each other. I completely trust her game.”

By far the two biggest ball-strikers on the court, they both served brilliantly while completely dominating the baseline exchanges with their destructive shot-making and they relentlessly closed down the net. Across their 78 minutes on court, Boulter and Burrage completely overpowered their Dutch opponents to close out an unforgettable win.

“It’s not like I’ve got players who play doubles week in, week out, other than Olivia Nicholls, but just finding the game styles that work together on a match court,” said Keothavong. “You can practise all you want, but you’re still kind of dipping into the unknown. You’ve got to take your chances and, for me as captain, I had confidence in these two. I’ve seen them deliver. And I think the way they delivered today just kind of seals that.”