Emma Raducanu was emotional for her compatriots after British Cup winner Billie Jean King clinched a ticket to the semi-finals in Glasgow. After losing to Kazakhstan on the opening day, Great Britain had a slim chance of qualifying for the semi-final.
But after Spain defeated Kazakhstan, Great Britain had a slim chance of qualifying for the semi-final: they needed to beat Spain 3-0 to qualify for the BJK Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1981.
Great Britain, who entered the tie from Spain as the underdogs, won all three matches against Spain to amazingly set up a semi-final against Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. «So happy for team GB,» Raducanu wrote on her Instagram story.
In the individual matches, Harriet Dart defeated Nuria Parrizas Dizas while Harriet Dart surprised Paula Badosa. Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls then defeated Aliona Bolsova and Rebeka Masarova to complete a 3-0 sweep of Spain.
Great Britain making noise without Raducanu
Last week, the captain of the British BJK Cup team, Anne Keothavong, said that not having Raducanu was a big blow to the team. After reaching the semi-final, Keothavong couldn’t believe it.
“It was just wonderful to see how it all unfolded today. I still can’t believe it. Win over Spain without losing a set. But knowing that we had to win 3-0, and then the girls crushed him by not dropping a set, it was just unreal,» Keothavong said after the tie.
Meanwhile, Nicholls feels that Britain could potentially win it all. “The sky is the limit after what we have shown so far. We were definitely the underdogs in this group. No doubt about that. Both single girls, Harriet and Heather, had incredible wins today.
We have shown what we can do on the doubles court as well. I don’t see any player or team here that we shouldn’t walk onto the floor thinking we can’t beat. We’ll move on,» Nicholls said.
