Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter lead Great Britain to BJK Cup quarters

MALAGA, Spain—Great Britain are through to the quarterfinals of the Billie Jean King Cup after a dominant performance against Germany in Malaga. Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter lived up to their status as favorites in the tie, sweeping Jule Niemeier and Laura Siegemund aside in straight sets to hand GB a 2-0 win.

Both teams had to contend with a difficult build up to the match following the severe weather alert that struck Malaga on Wednesday, causing flooding and power outages and leading to the postponement of the BJK Cup’s opening match. With the city in a 24-hour lockdown, all transport was suspended and all training sessions were canceled.

It meant neither team had more than an hour’s time to practice on the centre court at the Palacio de Deportes, but they dealt with the challenge in very different ways. While the German team trained behind closed doors and limited their media exposure to avoid distractions, Great Britain turned up to their rescheduled pre-match press conference in buoyant mood. With Heather Watson filiming the room in her self-appointed role as “content creator”, the team joked about celebrating Raducanu’s birthday with a yoga session and “just a small piece” of chocolate cake.

That difference in approach was mirrored in the lively atmosphere when the teams finally took to the court on Friday night, with thunderous support in the stands for the British team as Raducanu faced Niemeier. The German was undeterred by the loud Emma calls, the booming trumpets and the Ole-ole calls, and played her usual offensive power tennis. But Raducanu was in good form, moving agilely around the court and forcing Niemeier into long rallies. In the end, unforced errors and a few double faults proved the difference. Niemeier denied the Brit five match points after almost 1’40" , but it was not enough to turn the first game around for Team Germany.

"I'm very pleased to come out with that performance after a long layoff. I think it's been around two months since my last match, and it's never easy coming back from injury and the difference between practice and a match," smiled Raducanu afterwards.

I feel pretty good physically. Emotionally I felt pretty calm out there. Yeah, I'm very pleased to have scored that point. It's a nice win!

"She reacted much better than me in the decisive moments," admitted Niemeier afterwards.

"Especially in the close and important moments, she really stepped up her game."

But she was more impressed than annoyed by the loud fans from Great Britain.

"We heard while we were standing behind the stands that the atmosphere is very, very good. Of course there were more British fans than Germans. But I really enjoyed playing on the court today.”

The 25-year-old then hurriedly left the obligatory post-match press conference to cheer on her colleague Laura Siegemund against Katie Boulter. With a series of successes in singles and both women’s and mixed doubles this year, the 36-year-old from Stuttgart is not only considered an all-rounder, but also as a crowd-puller in the German team.

Siegemund started confidently against Boulter and got the first service break. However, this mini victory was short-lived, as Boulter took absolute control - triumphing 6:1, 6:1 in little more than an hour.

"I'm incredibly disappointed, I was hoping to be a bit more dangerous,’ said Siegemund after her defeat.

“I didn't play particularly well today. Katie is playing very well at the moment, the level was too high for me, especially on such an extremely fast surface.

I just have to accept that she can handle the pace better than me. I can't say I didn't try my best, but I clearly didn't look good today.

Boulter, on the other hand, was in her usual good mood in the press conference after her victory: ‘I played well today. It’s not easy, she's a tough opponent.

I don't think she was at her best. But at the same time, I played well too. This is encouraging and a good start to the tournament.

With two individual victories, Boulter, Raducanu and their team did not need a decisive doubles match. Instead, they can now save their strength for the quarterfinal tie against Canada on Sunday.

Leylah Fernandez is back seeking more hardware, as the former US Open finalist and her teammates open their BJK Cup title defense.

"I don't think I've ever played her. She's a great player andI have a lot of respect for," said Boulter about the prospect of facing Fernandez.

"She's the first person on court when you arrive at the facility in the morning and the last one when you leave. It will be an absolute battle, but I'm looking forward to it."