Emma Raducanu gets support from Billie Jean King Cup captain after schedule decision
Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong admits she was “naturally disappointed” that Emma Raducanu made herself unavailable for the upcoming qualifying matches, but she also “understands” the decision.
Raducanu played a starring role during Great Britain’s run to the semi-finals of the team tournament in Malaga last November, but she will be absent for the Group F qualifying matches against the Netherlands and Germany.
The 22-year-old was initially part of the squad, but withdrew as her coaching team decided she needed an extended break following the Sunshine Double.
Following an early loss at the Indian Wells Open, Raducanu followed it up with a string of excellent performances at the Miami Open as she reached the quarter-final with wins over eighth-seed Emma Navarro and 17th-seed Amanda Anisimova.
But she has decided to skip the Billie Jean King Cup and, although the world No 47’s absence is a setback for the team, Keothavong is understanding of her decision.
“Naturally disappointed. But I understand where she’s coming from,” she told The Guardian.
“She gave a lot to this team last year and was a huge part of the reason why we achieved the success that we did. I’ve got five players here who are highly motivated, who are excited to be here and are well prepped.
“I really hope Emma will be part of this again in the future.”
Before the Sunshine Double swing on the United States, Raducanu travelled a lot after the Australian Open as she played in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai.
Her Middle East swing ended in unpleasant circumstances as her second-round defeat to Karolina Muchova at the Dubai WTA 1000 event was marred by a stalker incident with a man who displayed “fixated behaviour” ejected from the venue.
The episode left Raducanu shaken and she admitted ahead of her Indian Wells participation that she came close to withdrawing from the tournament as she felt she needed a break.
Raducanu also didn’t feature on the WTA Tour last week and has also withdrawn from next week’s WTA 250 Rouen event in France, giving her a three-week break.
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She is expected to return to action at the Madrid Open with the tournament getting underway on April 22 while her name is also on the Italian Open entry list.
Those two events are set to be her only warm-up tournaments for the French Open, which starts on May 25 at Roland Garros.
But it remains to be seen if she will play those events as she hasn’t featured at the French Open the last two years while last year she also didn’t compete at the Italian Open.
