‘Excited’ Emma Raducanu replacement announced after star withdraws from latest event

Oliver Paton
Pictured: Emma Raducanu after her match
Emma Raducanu leaves the court

Emma Raducanu’s replacement for the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying has been announced days after the British superstar announced that she made the ‘difficult’ decision to withdraw from the event.

The former US Open champion looked in impressive form at the Miami Open, defeating eighth seed Emma Navarro and 17th seed Amanda Anisimova en route to the quarterfinals – before falling to fourth seed Jessica Pegula.

With her run, Raducanu is now back in the world’s top 50 for the first time in nearly three years.

However, the Brit made the ‘difficult decision’ to withdraw from her country’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers to “look after her body.”

It has now been announced that she will be replaced by Jodie Burrage, who joins Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, and Olivia Nicholls.

Burrage will make her third appearance at the event, having made her debut against Sweden in 2023.

The Brit has had various injuries recently, but did pick up the WTA100 title in Dubai and gained wins at the year’s first Grand Slam.

Reacting to the inclusion, Burrage wrote on Instagram: “Very excited to join these girls.”

Speaking after Raducanu’s withdrawal, team Captain Anne Keothavong stated: “I recognise this has been a difficult decision for Emma. Of course you always miss a player of her quality on the team, we’ve seen what she can do in the past representing her country, but I have the utmost belief in the players who are travelling next week and will confirm a 5th player in due course.”

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Britain will need to come first in their group, in order to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals later in 2025.

Former British No 1 Tim Henman weighed in after Raducanu’s Miami loss, and praised her busy 2025 schedule: “It’s been great that she’s competed a lot more this year after Australia.”

“She’s played three or four tournaments but the results haven’t been there. But I think that when you’re putting in that hard work in the gym with a physical trainer, I thought her movement both sort of offensively and defensively looked fantastic.

“She talks about having fun and being authentic, that gives her the opportunity of expressing herself on the court. That being said, she does it differently. She is very comfortable. She’s changed coaches.

“That’s not necessarily what everyone else likes to do, but she’s comfortable changing that up.

“But for me, as Marion touched upon, building physical resilience, I think is the most important thing. That is what has been lacking because she’s almost had her career back to front, qualifying, winning that Grand Slam without really the physical foundation.

“When her body was breaking down when she was in competition. I think the big positive this year is that she’s been able to compete more consistently and hopefully the results are going to come.”

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