The Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers return in a few weeks and for Great Britain, it is a crunch clash with Australia between April 10-11 but they will be without some of their main names as Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Fran Jones haven't been name or ruled themselves out of contention.
Raducanu has already committed to playing the Upper Austria Ladies Linz that week which is a WTA 500 tournament and runs across the same week. She is currently British No.1 and will miss proceedings for a third straight time. Boulter who is aiming to return to her best at the moment also won't play.
GB captain Anne Keothavong has instead selected Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Mika Stojsavljevic in their absence to play in Melbourne. Fran Jones is also missing meaning three out of their top four are missing with only Kartal bringing proven recent quality. She reached the Last 16 in Indian Wells before retiring injured against Elena Rybakina.
Keothavong though knew it would be a tough task to get Boulter, Raducanu to play in this event given that it clashes so heavily with the European clay court season and perhaps it is a surprise as a result even that Kartal even plays in the event.
But she lends her hand to the cause to aim to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals which is due to take place from 21 September. Great Britain reached the semi-finals last year.
"Playing away from home against a strong nation like Australia is going to be tough but we always embrace these weeks together as a team and will be up for the challenge in Melbourne.
"We've got players with great experience in this competition in our team and it's an exciting opportunity for Mika to join the senior team for the first time."
Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team vs Australia
| Player |
| Sonay Kartal |
| Harriet Dart |
| Mika Stojsavljevic |
| Jodie Burrage |
Maya Joint, Talia Gibson, Kimberly Birrell, Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez are the strong contingent led for Australia with Hunter being their leading light during the United Cup amid illness for Joint at times but Joint is their standout as their top female star. Gibson and Birrell are also having good seasons, the former is into the Quarter-Finals of Indian Wells.
Australia Billie Jean King Cup team
| Player |
| Maya Joint |
| Talia Gibson |
| Kimberly Birrell |
| Storm Hunter |
| Ellen Perez |
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