Tennis fans told to forget about Raducanu and ‘pay attention’ to another star

Billie Jean King has urged British tennis fans to forget about Emma Raducanu and ‘pay attention’ to Katie Boulter instead.

Boulter is set to feature for Great Britain during this week’s Billie Jean King Cup, with the Brits on the lookout for their first-ever triumph.

Raducanu is also in the GB team for the event in Malaga, but the 2021 US Open winner is coming into the tournament on the back of another injury-ridden year.

But King doesn’t believe Raducanu’s fitness issues will be terminal to the UK’s hopes, mainly because Boulter has been in such good form of late.

In fact, the 12-time women’s singles Grand Slam winner has urged tennis fans to show more appreciation towards current British No.1 Boulter.

Commenting on the 28-year-old, King told BBC Sport: “Katie Boulter, people should pay attention to her.

“I’ve been watching her for about five years now and every year she has got a little bit better – I don’t think people appreciate her enough. She’s got quicker, she’s got more consistent.”

Boulter reached the final of her most recent tournament – the Hong Kong Open – but was beaten in straight sets by Russian ace Diana Shnaider earlier this month.

By contrast, Raducanu hasn’t featured in competitive action at all since retiring hurt from the Korea Open in September.

But King isn’t panicking about the Toronto-born ace just yet, with the American instead insisting Raducanu needs patience to recover properly.

She continued: “If she can stay healthy long enough, then we’ll see how good she is.

“But if you keep getting injured, you never get that momentum going. If you’ve been injured – really injured – I always want to give a player at least a year and a half to recover.

“It takes a lot to come back from injury and you have got to be very patient.”

Team UK will be hoping Raducanu can replicate her heroics from the qualifying contest against France earlier this year, with the 22-year-old defeating both Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry.

Experienced duo Harriet Dart and Heather Watson will anchor Great Britain’s team, which is captained by Anne Keothavong.

Great Britain begin what they’ll hope is a successful week in southern Spain on Friday afternoon against Germany in the first round, with a quarter-final against Canada awaiting the winners.