Billie Jean King Cup Finals 2024: Great Britain defeat Canada to reach semi-finals
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All the results and live updates from Great Britain's Billie jean King Cup quarter-final against Canada.
Highlights
- Katie Boulter secures semi-final spot with 6-2, 6-4 win over Leylah Fernandez
- Emma Raducanu gave Great Britain an early lead after defeating Rebecca Marino 6-0, 7-5
- Great Britain face Canada for a place in the semi-finals
- Matches start from 16:00 GMT on Sunday 17 November
- Preview
- Live scores
- Billie Jean King Cup schedule
- Watch live coverage of Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup Finals match against Germany exclusively on BBC Sport, BBC iPlayer and BBC digital channels
Result: Great Britain 2 - 0 Canada
Great Britain have punched their ticket to the semi-finals for the first time in two years after knocking out defending champions Canada in a sensational 2-0 victory on Sunday night.
Emma Raducanu opened up proceedings with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Rebecca Marino before British No.1 Katie Boulter secured the tie with an impressive display over Leylah Fernandez – winning 6-2, 6-4.
The Brits last reached the semi-finals at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in 2022 when the tournament was hosted in Glasgow. They'll now take on Slovakia on Tuesday 19 November at 11:00 GMT for a spot in the final.
Team captain Anne Keothavong said, “It’s a great position to be in when Emma sets the bar high and gets the win under her belt, then Katie goes out there and takes a swing at it. When she strikes that ball it’s devasting and I couldn’t be prouder of the girls.
“I really believe we have a team who can win this competition. We’re not there yet, there’s still some work to do but we can enjoy this moment. Slovakia will prove to be another tough challenge for us but anything is possible.”
Billie Jean King Cup results
| Match one | Emma Raducanu beat Rebecca Marino 6-0, 7-5 |
| Followed by | Katie Boulter beat Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-4 |
Billie Jean King Cup video highlights
Match one: Raducanu defeats Marino to give GB an early lead
British No.2 Raducanu got the Brits off to a perfect start in their quarter-final battle against reigning champions Canada, after defeating world No.103 Rebecca Marino 6-0, 7-5 in an hour and 30 minutes.
“It was an incredibly difficult match because the dynamic was so different in each of the sets,” Raducanu said. "I’m very please with how I managed to fend off my own break points and sneak that break at five all and close it out.
“My Billie Jean King Cup performances have brought very good things out of me. It’s the same for everyone, we all fight extra hard and dig in a little bit more. It's an honour to be representing my country, scoring a point and hopefully Boults comes out and does the same”.
Raducanu appeared to pick up where she left off on Friday night, as she raced to an early break on the Canadian’s serve before backing it up with a hold to love.
In her match against Germany’s Jule Niemeier just two days ago, we saw Raducanu dominate on serve and today is no different, with the 22-year-old not dropping a single point behind her first serve in the opener.
The Brit piled the pressure on the Canadian in the return games, and it paid off as she claimed six consecutive games on the bounce to take the set after just 28 minutes.
Looking to put the opening set behind her, Marino was a different player in the early stages of the second and began to ask the question of the former US Open champion. The Canadian dug up seven break point opportunities across the set, including four during a 12 minute game at 4-3, but failed to capitalise.
Across the net, the Briton was presented with her first break point of the set and she grabbed it with both hands, before serving out the match at the first time of asking to put her country just one win away from a spot in the semi-finals.
Match two: Boulter secures semi-final spot with stunning victory over Fernandez
It was then over to British No.1 Boulter who sealed the Brits' spot in the final four after defeating Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 42 minutes.
“I’m really happy with my level today", Boulter beamed in her on-court interview. "Emma makes it very easy to come out here and have a swing at 1-0 up so full credit to her for starting us off well.
“We’ve been building for some time now and it’s finally coming out. We’ve got a great team, all the girls are great people and we’ve got great chemistry going on – I’m so proud of everyone here.”
It was a tough ask to go up against an opponent who clocked a flawless 8-0 win record in Billie Jean King Cup matches en route to the trophy last year, but as we’ve seen time and time again, Boulter well and truly rose to the challenge.
Both players showed signs of nerves in the early stages of the match as they exchanged a couple of breaks, however it was Boulter who settled first to edge her nose in front.
With the two-time Rothesay Open Nottingham champion up a break, Fernandez fought hard to stay in the points and keep the deficit to just one break of serve. However, she soon began to struggle with her serve and after being 40-15 up at 4-2, produced three double faults in one game to eventually hand Boulter the opening set.
The pressure continued to mount on Fernandez’s serve in the second and the double faults just kept on coming. Meanwhile, Boulter dialled up the power and aggression – striking 21 winners past the world No.31 across the match.
Just as she did in the first, the 28-year-old looked to capitalise on a struggling Fernandez and won 21/27 points against the Canadian’s second serve return to quickly move ahead to a 4-0 lead.
Boulter hoped to get the job done quickly as she stepped up to serve out the match a couple of unforced errors resulted in former US Open runner-up recovering one of the breaks to keep herself in it.
However, at the second time of asking the three-time WTA titleholder shook off the nerves to eventually seal victory with a thunderous serve that was plummeted into the net.
