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Emma Raducanu has come under fire from a former British tennis great, for prioritizing her individual career over representing Great Britain at the top level. Raducanu was in line to play at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals this year, but pulled out at the last minute.
John Lloyd, a former British No. 1 and ex-husband of US tennis legend Chris Evert, is of the opinion that team tournaments like the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup are getting poor treatment from players. To prove his point, he brought up the case of Raducanu, without whom Great Britain fell in the semifinals to eventual runner-up United States this year.
Lloyd believed Raducanu could have helped Britain win the tournament for the first time this year had she played. To see her ditch the tournament so she could play other tournaments at that time (during the Asian swing) was not a good sight for the British legend.
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"Look what has happened in the Billie Jean King Cup, which has also become a farce in that way. Emma Raducanu of Great Britain had a chance for the first time to possibly win it," he said speaking on the Mitch Michals Podcast.
"She pulls out of it and says she wants to spend more time with the new coach and get ready for the next season or ranking points. I am thinking, are you kidding me?" he added.
Lloyd also questioned the general lack of national duty priority from players, wondering what has happened to modern tennis that they do not understand the 'privilege' of representing their country at the highest level of tennis.
"When is it not a privilege to play for your country? Where has the game come to now, where players are saying it’s the end of the season?" he said.
The 2025 edition of the Billie Jean King Cup was won by Italy, marking their second triumph in a row. The Davis Cup also went to Italy this season, for their third win in three years.
Amid Emma Raducanu criticism, John Lloyd has a solution that could make the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup more lucrative as tournaments
With players like Emma Raducanu not so ready to represent their countries at the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, John Lloyd put forward a solution that could work during the interview. The Brit believes these tournaments should take place once every two years or four years, which he thought would encourage players to prioritize them better.
"In my opinion, it should be every four years, but a best-case scenario should be every two years, so that you have a chance for these players to actually put it down on their top priority list and not just when it happens to be convenient in their schedule," he said.
Lloyd served as the Captain of the Davis Cup team a decade earlier, from 2007 to the middle of the 2010 season.
