Great Britain eye BJK Cup upset against star-studded Czech side

Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup squad — Harriet Dart, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Mika Stojsavljevic and Jodie Burrage — face the Czech Republic in a quarter-final tie in Shenzhen, China, on Tuesday.

The Czechs are 11-time champions of the competition and the only team at the Finals with two top-10 ranked players: Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova, who met in this year's all-Czech Wimbledon final. The Czech squad also includes Marie Bouzkova, who has won two WTA titles this season including in Nottingham, and 20-year-old Sara Bejlek, who has had a breakthrough year with her first title and wins over Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys. Bouzkova and Noskova won the doubles title in Cincinnati in August, while Katerina Siniakova, the world's top-ranked doubles player with 12 Grand Slam titles, could also feature.

All five Czech players are ranked higher in singles than any member of the British team. Boulter, currently world number 54, acknowledged her side are clear underdogs but said the pressure lies with the Czechs, noting that upsets have happened before in the competition.

Boulter has won her fourth WTA title this season in Ostrava and beat new world number one Elena Rybakina at Queen's, but has repeatedly struggled against Czech opponents, losing to Muchova in Miami and at the US Open, and to Noskova in Cincinnati. She did, however, beat Noskova in straight sets in Osaka in October last year.

Dart, who lost to Bouzkova in the US Open second round, said the head-to-head picture looks difficult on paper but expressed confidence in her team's ability to perform well in the competition.