Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong knows from bitter experience the damage internal conflict can cause to a team so she is doing everything in her power to ensure Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu and co are as harmonious as possible.
The 44-year-old has done an incredible job in her eight-year reign. GB had not made a Billie Jean King Cup semi-final since 1981 and now they have two in three years. With Slovakia up next on Tuesday they are strong favourites to make the final.
It is clear how much the players enjoy each other’s company. Neither Raducanu nor Boulter have dropped a set so far and they joyfully embraced each other after each win.
‘It’s wonderful to see when you’ve got your top two players genuinely getting on, and there’s huge amount of respect for each other,’ said Keothavong. ‘What’s important for me in this competition is that the girls find a way to gel and get on.
‘From my previous experience as a player, that wasn’t always the case. So it’s always been important for me as captain that we shape things to make sure the girls walk away with good experience and good memories.’
As a player, Keothavong had an uncomfortable relationship with Elena Baltacha when they battling to become British No1. They patched things up and then the awful news of Baltacha’s death from cancer aged 30 in 2014 gave Keothavong a thunderbolt of perspective.
Emma Raducanu (left) and Katie Boulter (right) are emerging as British tennis’ next special duo
Anne Keothavong insisted the two British stars have ‘a huge amount of respect for eachother’
‘When you make your own mistakes, you don’t want to see others repeat the same thing. I don’t think it’s any secret, when I was playing myself and Elena Baltacha had our ups and downs, but towards the end we were pretty tight, and we were able as adults to reflect on how we could have been better, but also the people around us that influence us.
‘When she passed away, you just kind of think, well, what was all of that? It was just such a waste to spend so much time being angry and p***** off with each other and it was so totally unnecessary.’
‘I’m pleased that before we both hung up our rackets, we were able to really talk about all of that.’
Does it then mean even more to Keothavong to see her squad getting along so well? ‘Yeah, absolutely. Because, you know, we only get one time.’
Describing the backstage atmosphere at the team’s hotel just down the Costa del Sol in Torremolinos, Keothavong revealed that doubles pair Heather Watson and Olivia Nicolls are chief mischief makers.
‘Heather and Liv are a double act, they make the rest of us laugh a lot,’ she said. ‘I leave my children at home but when I see them, it’s like picking up extra kids! From playing with each other’s hair to styling my hair and making me look ridiculous.
‘We can take the mick out of each other but everyone can take it, and everyone can give back and that’s fine.’
Raducanu, 22, beat Canada’s Rebecca Marino 6-0, 7-5 to put her country 1-0 up
Katie Boulter then finished the job with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Leylah Fernandez
Raducanu – with her unique introduction to the tour with the 2021 US Open win – has cut a lonely figure at times on tour and so it is heartening to see her embracing the team atmosphere so heartily.
‘We get on really well,’ she said of Boulter. ‘She’s such a friendly girl and I think we’re a really strong one two combination in the singles.
‘We play spike ball (a game where players use their hands to bounce a ball on to a mini trampoline) to warm up, which is pretty fun.
‘Each person does their own individual practices, but when we do come together at the dinner table we’re always laughing and reflecting on the day and we have a few inside jokes running through the team, so that’s keeping us going.
‘It’s just an inside joke for now – we’ll explain it at the end.’ Over a glass of champagne perhaps? If this campaign does end in Billie Jean King Cup glory then the culture Keothavong has created will have played a huge part. And also, in a poignant way, will the much-missed Elena Baltacha.
