“It’s a goal of mine to win the tournament” – Katie Boulter on preparations, returning to clay & new teammates at the Billie Jean King Cup
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British No.1 Katie Boulter is set to lead the Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team once again this week as they bid to return to the Finals later in the season.
Standing in their way are Germany and Netherlands, two tough teams that Great Britain will need to navigate if they want to guarantee a first place finish in Group F.
Boulter – who made her Billie Jean King Cup debut back in 2018 – has been a permanent fixture in Captain Anne Keothavong’s side over the past few years and continues to bring her best tennis to the side.
Representing your country brings a certain magic that players perhaps don’t experience at other points throughout the season – a feeling that isn’t lost on the British star.
“Being back in the team is a massive privilege,” Boulter explained. “I’ve played the Billie Jean King Cup for seven years now and every time I get selected I relish the opportunity to come out and represent my country. It means so much to me.
“We had a great run to the semi-finals (last year), unfortunately we didn’t go any further but it just reminded me that we can win this competition. We were all pretty devastated after the last one, but it’s a good place to be – reaching the semi-finals is an achievement in itself.
“I’ve definitely made it a goal of mine to win the tournament in the coming years so hopefully we’ll keep going and this is the first stepping stone towards that. We just need to go out and enjoy the moment and have fun.”
The 28-year-old boasts an impressive 14-5 winning record when representing her country, including wins in GB’s impressive Qualifier against France and the team’s semi-final run last year.
Ahead of another tough challenge with two ties on the clay in The Hague, Netherlands, Boulter and the team will be hoping to channel their recent success to make another run at the Finals.
“I think last year was interesting for me,” she said. “I went in with one of my highest rankings and yet I had never played a full clay court swing – just a couple of matches. I’d actually never played a WTA clay court match before that tie.
“I felt a little underprepared for that but getting the win was a big moment because it showed me what I could do on the clay and it gave me belief going into the swing that I could pick up more results.
“It was great all week – we had a lot of momentum from there and took that into the Finals. What a great achievement to beat France away on clay but it shows anything is possible in this tournament.”
However, it’s a slightly new look team for the Brits this time around. Sonay Kartal has been selected for the squad for only the second time off the back of a breakthrough 12 months on tour – winning her first WTA title in Monastir, reaching the top 60 and most recently, making the fourth round at Indian Wells.
Over the last week, Boulter has been training with Kartal on the clay at the National Tennis Centre as the two prepare to potentially compete in the singles rubbers in these high stake ties.
“The depth in the team is getting better every year,” Boulter said. “We’ve got some established players who have been here for some time and then new ones coming through.
“It’s so great to see Sonay being picked for this tie, it’s what she deserves. You can see in her ranking which reflects how well she’s been doing this season. She’s such a great player and seems like such a great person too – I probably didn’t know her that well until Billie Jean King Cup, so this is a nice opportunity to get to know her.
“We’ve practiced a good few days together and actually played a bit of doubles together as well. It was very valuable, she’s a player who is very tough to beat so to have practiced a lot with her and play a lot of points, it’s really helped me kickstart my clay court season.
"She’s hitting a great ball and she’s going to be tough to beat.
"“I feel like I’ve already made improvements compared to the start of the clay court season last year."
This season hasn’t been completely plain sailing for the British No.1. Having got her campaign off to a flying start at the United Cup and with some solid results in Australia, Boulter was hit by injury, which has put a slight hold on her performances in other events so far.
However, the two-time Nottingham champion says that she’s back to feeling her best again and is match ready for the week ahead.
“Having an injury it’s always going to be brutal coming back,” she said. “For some reason whenever I get an injury it seems to be a bit more serious than just one week out which is unfortunate.
“I think it just reminds me of the perspective of being out there on court and never taking that for granted.
“It’s been tough and it’s an injury I’ve managed over the last few weeks. Coming back at Indian Wells and Miami I could have taken a bit more time but I didn’t want to, I wanted to go and play and keep some of the momentum going from Australia, where I thought I was playing some of my best tennis.
“I’m just happy to be back out there and I’m in a place ready to play some matches.”
All the action from the Lexus GB team's matches will be available to watch on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer and Tennis Channel. You can also watch all other matches from the Group F Qualifiers in The Hague, Netherlands live on Tennis Channel.
