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Katie Boulter feels she has come \u201cfull circle\u201d as she prepares to lead Great Britain\u2019s Billie Jean King Cup team in this weekend\u2019s play-off against Sweden at the Copper Box.<\/p>\n
It was at the same venue four and a half years ago that Boulter secured victory over Kazakhstan to put Britain back at the elite level of the competition formerly known as Fed Cup.<\/p>\n
But she suffered a stress fracture in her back that kept her out for more than six months and sent her ranking plummeting out of the top 100.<\/p>\n
It has taken until this year for Boulter to get back to and now surpass that level, and at 58 in the world she is by some distance the highest-ranked player in the tie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was something that stuck in my memory for many, many years,\u201d said Boulter of the Kazakhstan clash.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think I see the positives and the negatives of that tie. I really do. And I learned a lot from the situation that I was in, but I wouldn\u2019t change it for anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a full circle for me. I\u2019m glad to be back here, and I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be in the position I am right now if it wasn\u2019t for that tie. So I\u2019m glad to be back here with a great team behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boulter has been sharing her memories of that weekend with her good friend Jodie Burrage, who will make a long-awaited debut in the competition.<\/p>\n
Burrage, ranked 93, has been unlucky to miss out in previous ties, and she said: \u201cI\u2019ve absolutely loved this week. The vibe\u2019s been great. I\u2019m really happy that (captain) Anne (Keothavong) has trusted me to play tomorrow and I will go out there and do my absolute best to come away with the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a really proud moment for me, walking out on the court tomorrow, but once I get that done then it\u2019ll be all down to business. Playing at home as well in this arena, the girls told me that this is one of the best places that they have played, so I can\u2019t wait to experience that tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time last year Britain were on their way to a historic semi-final appearance in the competition having been given a wild card for the final stages as hosts in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
Defeat by France in Coventry in April meant they missed out this year and they must beat Sweden to have another shot at qualifying in 2024.<\/p>\n
Anything but victory would be a disaster given the visitors are without their only two top-200 players in Rebecca Peterson and Mirjam Bjorklund, who both withdrew through injury.<\/p>\n
Instead, they are relying on world number 372 Kajsa Rinaldo Persson, who will take on Burrage first up on Saturday, and 532nd-ranked Caijsa Hennemann.<\/p>\n
Keothavong insisted there will be no complacency, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no room for that, and I think we\u2019ve seen in this competition that anything\u2019s possible. This team need to go out there and impose themselves. You can\u2019t underestimate anyone out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the kinds of ties we want, on home soil with a full house. The players know what they need to do and hopefully they\u2019re going to go out there tomorrow and execute it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all of us collectively are motivated to get back into the world group because we know what we\u2019re capable of as a team. When we come together, we really do rise to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Britain\u2019s junior Billie Jean King Cup team reached the semi-finals of the under-16 competition with a 3-0 victory over Sweden and will play the Czech Republic for a place in the final.<\/p>\n
At the senior finals in Seville, the Czech Republic defeated the USA in a heavyweight clash to book their passage through to the last four.<\/p>\n
Danielle Collins defeated Katerina Siniakova to give the US the lead but Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova easily saw off Sofia Kenin and Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova claimed the deciding doubles.<\/p>\n
The Czechs will face Canada on Saturday while surprise packages Slovenia and Italy meet in the other semi-final.<\/p>\n