Katie Boulter feels she has come “full circle” as she prepares to lead Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team in this weekend’s play-off against Sweden at the Copper Box.
It was at the same venue four and a half years ago that Boulter secured victory over Kazakhstan to put Britain back at the elite level of the competition formerly known as Fed Cup.
But she suffered a stress fracture in her back that kept her out for more than six months and sent her ranking plummeting out of the top 100.
It has taken until this year for Boulter to get back to and now surpass that level, and at 58 in the world she is by some distance the highest-ranked player in the tie.
“It really was something that stuck in my memory for many, many years,” said Boulter of the Kazakhstan clash.
“But I think I see the positives and the negatives of that tie. I really do. And I learned a lot from the situation that I was in, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.
“It’s a full circle for me. I’m glad to be back here, and I don’t think I’d be in the position I am right now if it wasn’t for that tie. So I’m glad to be back here with a great team behind me.”
Boulter has been sharing her memories of that weekend with her good friend Jodie Burrage, who will make a long-awaited debut in the competition.
Burrage, ranked 93, has been unlucky to miss out in previous ties, and she said: “I’ve absolutely loved this week. The vibe’s been great. I’m really happy that (captain) Anne (Keothavong) has trusted me to play tomorrow and I will go out there and do my absolute best to come away with the win.
“It’s just a really proud moment for me, walking out on the court tomorrow, but once I get that done then it’ll be all down to business. Playing at home as well in this arena, the girls told me that this is one of the best places that they have played, so I can’t wait to experience that tomorrow.”
This time last year Britain were on their way to a historic semi-final appearance in the competition having been given a wild card for the final stages as hosts in Glasgow.
Defeat by France in Coventry in April meant they missed out this year and they must beat Sweden to have another shot at qualifying in 2024.
Anything but victory would be a disaster given the visitors are without their only two top-200 players in Rebecca Peterson and Mirjam Bjorklund, who both withdrew through injury.
Instead, they are relying on world number 372 Kajsa Rinaldo Persson, who will take on Burrage first up on Saturday, and 532nd-ranked Caijsa Hennemann.
Keothavong insisted there will be no complacency, saying: “There’s absolutely no room for that, and I think we’ve seen in this competition that anything’s possible. This team need to go out there and impose themselves. You can’t underestimate anyone out there.
“These are the kinds of ties we want, on home soil with a full house. The players know what they need to do and hopefully they’re going to go out there tomorrow and execute it.
“I think all of us collectively are motivated to get back into the world group because we know what we’re capable of as a team. When we come together, we really do rise to the challenge.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s junior Billie Jean King Cup team reached the semi-finals of the under-16 competition with a 3-0 victory over Sweden and will play the Czech Republic for a place in the final.
Sabalenka defeats Collins to set up Swiatek rematch
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 7-5 6-2 to set up yet another meeting with Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open.
Having defeated Collins en route to the final of the Madrid Open, which she lost to Swiatek, Sabalenka repeated the trick with a straight sets win over the American in Thursday's semi-final.
And the Belarusian's reward will be an immediate rematch with Swiatek.
The duo have met 10 times, including in Madrid earlier this month, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka claiming three victories.
This will be Sabalenka's first appearance in the Italian Open final.
She is the sixth player, along with Simona Halep (2017), Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013), Ons Jabeur (2022), and Swiatek (2024) to have reached the final of both Madrid and Rome in the same season.
Data Debrief: Perfect record
Collins is the only player against whom Sabalenka has registered six wins without a loss in WTA events, while only against Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens does she have more wins in her career in such events (seven each).
The final will mark the fourth meeting on clay between Swiatek and Sabalenka as world number one and two, equalling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most meetings on the surface as the WTA's top-two ranked players.
Swiatek makes it back-to-back finals with Gauff win
Iga Swiatek is through to the Italian Open final for the third time after seeing off Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.
There was little to separate the two in the opening 50 minutes as they played to 4-4 before Gauff left an opening with back-to-back double faults, and Swiatek took full advantage.
The world number one broke Gauff’s serve four times, including in the fifth game of the second set to swing the momentum firmly in her favour after one hour 48 minutes on the court.
Swiatek has now reached back-to-back WTA 1000 finals after winning the Madrid Open earlier this month and could face Aryna Sabalenka for the title once more if the Belarusian gets past Danielle Collins in the other semi-final.
Data Debrief: Unstoppable on clay
Swiatek has now won 11 consecutive matches, and registered her 10th victory over Gauff in 11 meetings between the two - she has won all four matches against the American on clay.
Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Swiatek (40 per cent, 12/30) holds the highest percentage of finals reached from WTA-1000 main draws entered. Serena Williams (36.7 per cent, 18/49) is the next best in the format's history.
Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, Swiatek has become only the third player to reach multiple Italian Open finals as the WTA's number one, along with Serena Williams (three) and Monica Seles (two). She will be looking for her third Italian Open title on Saturday.
Paul sees off Hurkacz in seesaw quarter-final
Tommy Paul reached the semi-final of the Italian Open after pulling through a rollercoaster clash with Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday.
The number 14 seed downed Hurkacz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-final, keeping his composure during his two hours and 43 minutes on the court.
After winning the first set, Hurkacz fought back to win the second, but the American was not out of the contest yet as he clawed back from 0-2 down early in the third.
He closed out the win in a dramatic fashion, fending off six break points while letting three of his own slip, to eventually set up a semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Nicolas Jerry on Friday.
Data Debrief: Into the final four
After beating Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, Paul has now won back-to-back matches against top-10 opponents for the first time in his professional career with his victory over Hurkacz.
Paul earned his 150th tour-level win to take him through to his third Masters 1000 semi-final, as he aims to become the first American finalist in Rome since Andre Agassi in 2002.
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