BJK Cup stars address Emma Raducanu's absence as Naomi Osaka also skips event

When Britain face Japan in the quarter-finals of this week's Billie Jean King Cup Finals, neither team will have their top player in action. British No. 1 Emma Raducanu decided to pull out of the team and took a wildcard into this week's WTA 500 event in Seoul instead, prioritising her schedule and the opportunity to gain ranking points.

Naomi Osaka also withdrew from the team tournament, often seen as the World Cup of women's tennis, following her run to the US Open semi-finals. The Japanese team have now addressed the absence of both players, admitting their British rivals still had a strong team, with or without Raducanu.

Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage and Francesca Jones will represent GB at the BJK Cup Finals this week, captained by Anne Keothavong. Kartal went undefeated in her team debut during their qualifier ties earlier this year.

Boulter and Burrage formed a formidable doubles pairing, while Jones is in form after reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 125 in Guadalajara. And Moyuka Uchijima, the highest-ranked player in Japan's squad, knows they will be dangerous.

"I mean, obviously Great Britain is a strong team. Even though Emma is not in the team, still they have a really good singles players," she said ahead of their quarter-final tie on Thursday.

"I mean, every team for qualifying the Final I think is a good team. We're really happy to be back in the Finals."

Team GB weren't the only ones to take a hit when Raducanu withdrew. Former world No. 1 and four-time Major winner Osaka also decided not to represent Japan after she was initially named in their line-up.

But captain Ai Sugiyama has now revealed that Osaka is actually carrying an injury, which stopped her from playing in Shenzhen this week.

Sugiyama explained: "Actually, she got injured. She really wanted to come here to compete. Yeah, she has to recover from the injury first.

"Well, I hope she's cheering for us. I haven't talked to her much. She was too disappointed because she got injured. But I'm sure she's, yeah, cheering for us."

Osaka enjoyed a strong North American hard-court summer. She reached the final of the WTA 1000 in Montreal and then stormed into the US Open semi-finals - her best Grand Slam result since 2021. Osaka is now back up to No. 14 in the world.

"I'm happy to see her really doing well. Runner-up in Montreal, semis in US Open. Most important thing, she's enjoying playing again. She's more relaxed. Seems like she's relieved from all the pressure, I think," Sugiyama said of Osaka's recent run.

"Being a mother, her priority maybe changed a little bit even before she was, you know, dealing with the pressure. Now she's more relaxed on court. She's performing really well. I'm happy to see her really doing well."

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