With Great Britain’s presence at the Billie Jean King Cup this year hanging in the balance, their pivotal contest with the Netherlands tied at 1-1, Anne Keothavong made a dramatic call. Instead of the doubles specialist, Olivia Nicholls, present in The Hague precisely for these matches and with Harriet Dart positioned as the first-choice doubles team, the British captain chose to rely on the pure firepower provided by her singles players.
It turned out to be a stroke of genius. Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage, both ranked outside the top 250 in doubles and with minimal experience together, produced an inspired performance to lead their team to victory with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs.
