Emma Raducanu replacement clear as doubts emerge over Billie Jean King Cup final spot
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Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong may already have a replacement in mind for next month's Finals if Emma Raducanu is unable to play.
Raducanu has not featured since suffering a foot injury at the Korea Open last month and has subsequently pulled out of several tournaments.
There was some hope she would be back to compete in the Hong Kong Open, however Raducanu explained she still needs more time to recover.
"I’m sorry to say that I will not be able to play in Hong Kong next week," she said.
Emma Raducanu has barely played in the past few monthsSKY SPORTS"Whilst my foot is making good progress, I need a little more time before I am match fit.
"I hope to be able to come back and play this tournament in the future! In the meantime, I am doing what I can to be ready for BJKC."
Raducanu was named in Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup Finals squad by Keothavong before the 21-year-old picked up her latest injury issue.
Keothavong will have until the day before Great Britain's tournament begins - on November 15 against Germany - to make any changes to her squad.
That gives Raducanu plenty of time to get back up to speed and represent her country next month.
However, Keothavong could turn to the in-form Sonay Kartal should Raducanu pull out.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a career-best year on the WTA Tour and recently broke into the world's top 100.
Kartal also won her first WTA Tour-level title in Tunisia last month, beating Rebecca Sramkova at the Jasmin Open final.
Keothavong, who called Kartal up to the Billie Kean King Cup squad in 2022, was full of praise for the British No 4's spell of good form this year.
Sonay Kartal would be an option to replace Emma RaducanuREUTERS"She's someone who worked so hard and deserves this success," the former British No 1 said last month.
"It came as a huge surprise, because obviously she had to come through two rounds of qualifying. I spoke to her last night after her victory and I think she was still in a state of shock.
"She couldn't quite believe what she had achieved. She played some fantastic tennis to win her first WTA title. That's huge and now she's got her ranking inside the world's top 100.
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Anne Keothavong has up until the day before the tournament to make any changes
PA
"I think for any player that's the major milestone. If you can break into the world's top 100 you're into Grand Slam, you're there on merit, you don't have to go through the rounds of qualifying and you can enter bigger events.
"Hopefully she'll use this as a springboard because at Wimbledon her ranking was only just inside the world's top 300 and she came through three rounds of qualifying to reach the third round.
"She's been able to continue to build and build and she's had her fair share of injuries and health issues over the past couple of years so for her to go out there and do what she did, the conditions in Tunisia suited her, but she's playing with a huge amount of confidence, and she's continuing to improve."
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