Billie Jean King Cup 2024: Great Britain vs Germany – preview
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The Brits have landed in Malaga, ready to take on Germany in their opening match at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Here’s all you need to know about the highly anticipated tie, including the schedule, player line-ups and how you can watch from home.
When is Great Britain vs Germany?
Great Britain’s match against Germany at the Palacio de Deported Jose Maria Martin Carpena will start not before 16:00 GMT on Friday 15 November.
How to watch Great Britain vs Germany
You can watch every tie from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on the Tennis Channel.
All of Great Britain’s ties will also be broadcast live on the Tennis Channel, as well as BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app and the Red Button.
The teams
| Great Britain (ranking) | Germany (ranking) |
| Captain: Anne Keothavong | Captain: Rainer Schuettler |
| Katie Boulter (23) | Laura Siegemund (84 - singles; 21 - doubles) |
| Emma Raducanu (58) | Jule Niemeier (92) |
| Harriet Dart (61) | Tatjana Maria (101) |
| Heather Watson (140 - singles; 57 - doubles) | Eva Lys (130) |
| Olivia Nicholls (39 - doubles) |
Great Britain vs Germany Billie Jean King Cup head-to-head
Great Britain holds a 4-2 lead in the head-to-head against Germany, with all six of their meetings coming between the years of 1969 and 1985.
In their most recent meeting at the World Group Play-Offs in 1985, a strong Great Britain team consisting of Jo Drurie, Annabelle Croft and Anne Hobbs took a clean sweep to win the tie 3-0.
However, with the two nations having not gone to battle in 39 years, their upcoming tie in Malaga could be a lot closer than in previous years.
Preview
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team will be hoping they can make a strong statement to their Billie Jean King Cup Finals campaign as they prepare to challenge Germany for a spot in the quarter-finals.
British No.1 Katie Boulter will lead the team out in what could be her 13th tie for Great Britain. The world No.23 has picked up two titles so far this year, one on home soil at the Rothesay Open Nottingham and her biggest career title to date at the WTA 500 event in San Diego back in March, and recently finished runner-up at the Japan Open.
Boulter enters the Finals with an exceptional 12-4 win record in Billie Jean King Cup matches and will be gunning to add another victory to her tally against Germany.
Emma Raducanu will be hoping she can re-create the magic from the Brits' qualifying tie against France back in April. The qualifiers saw the 22-year-old make her first appearance at the tournament since 2022 and she bounced back with vengeance to secure victories over former world No.4 Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry.
Meanwhile, long-standing Billie Jean King Cup team members Harriet Dart and Heather Watson will prove vital additions to Anne Keothavong's team. Both players were instrumental in Great Britain's run to the semis at the 2022 Finals in Glasgow - Britain's best run at the tournament in 41 years - and will be reliable weapons should they be called upon in Malaga.
On the doubles side, Olivia Nicholls will enter in red-hot form off the back of reaching back-to-back WTA 1000 quarter-finals during the Asian swing. Nicholls has been competing alongside Czech star Tereza Mihalikova, and the pair have picked up momentum in recent weeks - resulting in Nicholls cracking the world's top 40 for the first time in her career.
Meanwhile, Germany booked their ticket to Malaga after beating Brazil 3-1 in April's qualifier.
Laura Siegemund was in electrifying form back in April where she defeated world No.10 Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets before edging past Carolina Alvez 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 to secure victory.
While both of Siegemund's wins against Brazil came in the singles rubbers, she is also amongst some of the world's top doubles players and picked up her second mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this year. Runner-up at the Thailand Open in September, Siegemund could prove a tough nut to crack should she be selected to play against the Brits.
Jule Niemeier comes in as the second highest ranked in the German team. Niemeier has recorded some standout Grand Slam wins this year, after reaching the second round at The Championships, Wimbledon and taking down seeded player Dayana Yastremska en route to the third round of the US Open.
Joining her is Tatjana Maria, who has competed in 15 ties so far for her country. The 37-year-old has been a runner-up at the WTA 125 events in Colombia and Mexico in the last couple of months and can cause difficulties for her opponents with her tricky backhand slice.
Rising star Eva Lys completes Schuettler's team and could be set to make her third appearance for her nation. The 22-year-old marked her debut back in 2022 with a win over Petra Martic and has since gone on a steady journey through the WTA rankings where she now holds a career-best of 105.
