Great Britain eliminated from Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals as Kartal and Boulter lose to Czech Republic

On 22 September 2026, Great Britain were knocked out of the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals after Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter were beaten in their singles matches by players from the Czech Republic.

Anne Keothavong's side entered the tie as underdogs, with all five Czech players placed higher in the singles rankings than any member of the British squad; Katie Boulter was Britain’s highest-ranked player and Sonay Kartal is described in reports as world number 54.

Kartal, making her return to competition after six months out with a lower back injury, produced a determined performance but lost a marathon three-hour encounter to Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-4.

Boulter was unable to reverse Britain’s fortunes in the best-of-three tie as she was outplayed 6-2 7-6 (7-3) by Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.

The defeat was Boulter’s second successive loss to a Czech opponent, coming three weeks after a 58-minute demolition by Karolina Muchova at the US Open.

It is the first time since 2023 that Britain have failed to reach the semi-finals at the Billie Jean King Cup; the Czech Republic are 11-time winners of the tournament and enter the Finals as the only team with two top-10 players.

The Czech Republic will face either Kazakhstan or Spain in Friday's semi-finals, and Britain’s wait for a maiden title will go on for another year.