Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers 2024: Great Britain vs France preview, teams, schedule & how to watch
• 3 MINUTE READ
Find out everything you need to know ahead of Great Britain vs France in the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Qualifiers.
Where is Great Britain vs France taking place?
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team will take on France for the second consecutive year in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers from Friday 12 to Saturday 13 April.
The tie will be played at Le Chaudron in Le Portel, France. The arena, which usually plays host to the ESSM Le Portel basketball team, has a capacity of 3400 seats.
The French team have chosen to have an indoor clay court for the tie.
Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers schedule & draw
Day one - Friday 12 April from 13:30
- Katie Boulter (GBR) vs Diane Parry (FRA)
- Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)
Day two - Saturday 13 April from 12:30
- Katie Boulter (GBR) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)
- Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Diane Parry (FRA)
- Harriet Dart (GBR) & Heather Watson (GBR) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA) & Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers team selection
Here are the team selections for Great Britain and France ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup.
|
Great Britain |
France |
|
Captain: Anne Keothavong |
Captain: Julien Benneteau |
|
Katie Boulter (world No.28) |
Caroline Garcia (world No.23) |
|
Harriet Dart (world No.88) |
Clara Burel (world No.44) |
|
Heather Watson (world No.144) |
Diane Parry (world No.51) |
|
Fran Jones (world No.277) |
Kristina Mladenovic (Doubles: world No.55) |
|
Emma Raducanu (world No.302) |
|
How to watch the Billie Jean King Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup qualifier tie between Great Britain and France will be available to watch on BBC Sport, BBC iPlayer. You can also watch Friday's action via the red button.
The tie will also be streamed on Tennis Channel International.
You can follow along with all of the live scores and results below:
Head-to-head
The current head-to-head between Great Britain and France stands at 2-2.
The two sides return to face each other for a place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals for the second year in a row, after France edged a close contest in Coventry last year, 3-1.
Preview
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team will come into the tie with a squad that features four active or former top 100 players.
British No.1 Katie Boulter has been one of the form players on the WTA Tour this season, having started the year with her biggest career win over world No.5 Jessica Pegula and lifting her first WTA 500 title at the San Diego Open in March.
Boulter boasts an impressive record for the Brits at the Billie Jean King Cup, winning 11 of 14 matches played – including two against Sweden in last year’s Play-Offs. The 28-year-old faced Caroline Garcia in last year’s tie, narrowly losing a blockbuster 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 7-6(2).
She’ll be joined by Harriet Dart who this season has reached the biggest final of her career at the WTA 125 Canberra as well as the semi-final of the Transylvania Open, where she also made the doubles final.
Dart helped Great Britain book their place in the 2024 Qualifiers, winning the final rubber against Sweden’s Caijsa Wilda Hennemann.
Heather Watson is one of Great Britain’s most experienced players, having competed in 35 ties with a winning record of 31-15 across all matches. Like Dart, Watson is a threat in both singles and doubles. This year she has made the singles final of the W50 Roehampton as well as two WTA 500 doubles finals in Brisbane and Dubai.
Emma Raducanu returns to the squad for the first time since her debut in 2022 against Czech Republic. Recently returning from injury, the young Brit has already recorded wins over three top 100 players this season.
Francesca Jones could be Great Britain’s secret weapon on the clay in France. Jones is coming in off the back of her first WTA 125 final on the dirt in Mexico and has won all six of her ITF titles on clay.
France boasts an impressive line-up for their home tie on the clay – including 2022 WTA Finals champion and 11-time WTA title winner Garcia. The world No.23 is coming into form at the right time off the back of a quarter-final finish at the recent Miami Open.
Clara Burel is currently at her career-high ranking (world No.44) after closing out the 2023 season with her best title at the WTA 125 Angers, a quarter-final in Linz and third round at the Australian Open. The 23-year-old is still inexperienced in the Billie Jean King Cup, with only two wins in five matches.
Diane Parry is another high riser this season, who recently made the fourth round at Indian Wells and a final eight finish in Austin.
Kristina Mladenovic is always a threat on the doubles court as well. The French star has six women’s doubles and three mixed doubles titles to her name and alongside Garcia, was part of the Billie Jean King Cup title-winning team in 2019.
