BJK Cup: Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal send Great Britain into semi-finals with 2-0 win over Japan

Katie Boulter says she is hopeful it is Great Britain’s time to win a first Billie Jean King Cup after an impressive 2-0 win over Japan secured their place in the semi-finals.

Boulter and Sonay Kartal triumphed in their singles matches on Thursday to set up a last-four meeting with the United States.

Should Britain beat the 18-time champions, they would reach a first final in 44 years and a fifth overall.

No nation has reached the BJK Cup title match more times than Britain’s four without winning it.

Boulter and Jodie Burrage produced a superb doubles performance to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in April and qualify for the eight-team Finals, and they appear to be continuing their momentum in Shenzhen.

“This team qualified earlier in the year and we showed a lot of heart,” Boulter said.

“The team deserves to be here and hopefully we can go to the final. Hopefully this is our time now.”

Boulter is the nation’s leading singles player in China in the absence of Emma Raducanu, who withdrew at the start of September to focus on playing on the WTA Tour instead.

But despite her absence Britain looked strong against Japan, with Kartal winning 6-3 7-6 (7-4) against Ena Shibahara before Boulter ruthlessly beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-1.

“Sonay put in a clinical performance so she makes it easy to follow,” added Boulter.