Billie Jean Gold Cup: Emma Laducanu and Katie Boult not in British squad for Australia

Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter will miss England’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Australia next month.

Raducanu, who is ranked No. 1 in the UK and No. 24 in the world, has committed to play in the WTA 500 clay-court championship in Linz, Austria, in the same week.

Bolt, ranked 64th in the world, also missed the competition.

GB captain Anne Keothavong has selected Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic for the tournament, which will be held in Melbourne on April 10-11.

A fifth player can be added to the team closer to time.

Cortavon is thought to face the difficult task of convincing Britain’s top players to travel to Australia to compete on hard courts as the European clay court season gets underway, describing the best-of-five match as “tough”.