SHENZHEN — Great Britain will attempt to upset 11-time champions Czech Republic in the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-final on Tuesday from 10:00 BST in Shenzhen, China, live on the BBC Sport website and app and BBC iPlayer. The tie pits a tight-knit British squad of Harriet Dart, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Mika Stojsavljevic and Jodie Burrage against the only team at the Finals boasting two top-10 singles players, with Great Britain having reached the semi-finals in three of the past four seasons.
"It's best not to underestimate us," says a defiant Harriet Dart, while British number one Katie Boulter, the current world number 54, added: "I think naturally we are definite underdogs. We are the ones that are going to have to make something happen, something special. But that being said, a lot of pressure is on them, and we've seen in this tournament before that people can make upsets, and I think that's what we'll be looking to do." Boulter, 30, continued: "I think we have no pressure ourselves, and we're just going to go out there with no expectations." Dart added: "I think even though the match-up on paper here is pretty rough for us, at the same time I know how well this team can play. We have strong belief within ourselves and within our own team that we can do well in this competition."
The Czech Republic arrive with formidable depth. Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova — the current Wimbledon champion and her beaten opponent from this summer's all-Czech final — lead the line, supported by 28-year-old Marie Bouzkova, who has won two WTA titles this year including on the Nottingham grass, and 20-year-old Sara Bejlek, who has enjoyed a breakthrough season featuring a first title and victories against Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys. In doubles, Bouzkova and Noskova triumphed in Cincinnati in August, though Katerina Siniakova — the current top-ranked women's doubles player with 12 Grand Slams — is likely to feature. All five Czech players are ranked higher in singles than any member of the British squad.
Boulter by her own reckoning has seen "an improvement" in 2026, winning her fourth WTA title in Ostrava and beating new world number one Elena Rybakina at Queen's in a year in which the Kazakh won the Australian and US Open crowns. Yet she has struggled against Czech opposition, losing 6-3 7-5 to Muchova in Miami in March and winning just one game in a "bad day at the office" defeat to Muchova in the US Open second round earlier this month, and falling 6-3 6-3 to Noskova in Cincinnati in August, though she beat Noskova in straight sets in Osaka in October 2025. Dart lost 6-2 6-2 to Bouzkova in the US Open second round. "They are both incredible players, both extremely good at what they do," Boulter said of Noskova and Muchova. "They have been in places that I've never been before. So I think for me, it's about taking it to them."
Great Britain qualified for Shenzhen — their fourth BJK Cup Finals in five years — by shocking Australia in Melbourne in April, a tie missed by Boulter and Kartal, who now return to strengthen captain Anne Keothavong's side. Emma Raducanu is again missing through injury. Should Britain upset the Czechs, they would face the winner of Kazakhstan — who are without Rybakina — and Spain on Friday. "I think pressure is a privilege, isn't it? I think whoever you're drawn against in this competition, particularly when you've made it through to the Finals, there are no easy matches," Keothavong said.