Great Britain defeat Germany to progess to Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals

Match one: Raducanu overcomes Niemeier to give GB the advantage

British No.2 Emma Raducanu got the Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team off to a winning start as she beat world No.92 Jule Niemeier 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 57 minutes.

Another strong performance from Raducanu takes her overall Billie Jean King Cup record to 4-1 in her first five rubbers for her country.

“I think I played some really good tennis today,” she said. “Playing Jule on an indoor hard court isn’t easy.

“I haven’t played a match in a long time so I think there are small sharpness things that will come the more matches I play. I’m proud of how I regrouped and managed to close out that final game.”

Raducanu – who hasn’t played a match since September – got off to a quick start on her Finals debut in Malaga. On her third break point of the match with the scores locked at 3-3, she found a brutal forehand return winner to strike the first blow.

The 22-year-old soon found herself on the back foot however, managing to stave off five break points of her own with some impressive serving to consolidate the break in an important game.

The Brit saw out the set with a fifth successive hold and wasted no time in taking control of the second. The 2021 US Open champion broke on the opening game of the set with yet another clean winner off the Niemeier second serve.

The German showed signs of life after overcoming two break points before playing her best game of the match against the Brit’s serve to level at 2-2, but Raducanu refused to let her back into the match.

The Brit went on to a 5-2 lead but found it hard to get over the line against the resilient German.

Five match points came and went as Niemeier fought her way back to 5-4 and it started to become edgy for the Briton. However, on the sixth time of asking Raducanu forced an error off a low forehand to clinch a 1-0 advantage for GB.

Match two: Boulter secures quarter-final spot for the Brits

Katie Boulter clinched Great Britain’s place in the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over German No.1 Laura Siegemund in only an hour and 10 minutes.

“I’m thrilled to get the rubber for GB today,” Boulter said. “Matches like these mean so much more than all the other ones because you’re playing with a flag on your chest.

“Emma obviously started us off great, which was really nice, she did so well. It’s been a really, really good day for us.”

After a quick exchange of breaks to start the match, Boulter soon settled into her rhythm. The British No.1 has been in fine form of late – reaching her third final of the season in Hong Kong just over a week ago – and seems to have carried her level into Malaga.

Boulter took the next five straight games, including two holds to love and two more breaks – nullifying the German’s heavy slice with some powerful baseline hitting.

The pressure only continued to mount for Siegemund early in the second set. The German got her first hold of the match in the first game but quickly found herself a break down once again after pushing an approach shot wide into the tramlines.

Boulter had to ride a brief scare in the following game, where she came back from 0-40 down to move 3-1 in front.

Siegemund just couldn’t get anything going behind her serve. Boulter won 13/14 points against the German’s second serve in the match, breaking a fifth time for a 5-1 lead.

The world No.84 could do very little to counter the Brit in such incredible form. The San Diego and Nottingham champion served out the match at the first time of asking, wrapping up her 13^th match win for Great Britain with a cool, calm forehand winner.