Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers 2024: Great Britain vs France preview
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.
Fran 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.
