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Great Britain have named their team for the Fed Cup qualifying tie that takes place next week in Slovakia. Britain's top ranked player Johanna Konta, who has been battling a chronic knee injury for several months, will not compete in the competition this year in order to reduce her workload as she wants to focus on the regular tour events and the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Katie Boulter has also not been named for the tie as she is recovering from a stress fracture of the back, according to The Telegraph. The team will be led by Heather Watson and Harriet Dart who will be joined by 22-year-old Naiktha Bains, 20-year-old Katie Swan and 17-year-old Emma Radacanu.
The tie will take place at the AXA Arena NTC, Slovakia. Naiktha Bains, Katie Swan and Emma Raducanu complete the squad. British captain Anne Keothavong made the announcement on Monday, who said, "We have some very exciting young players in our squad who are ecstatic to be part of this team and I’m sure will rise to the big occasion”.
The winning team will progress to the inaugural finals week in Budapest, starting on April 14 while the losers will have to go through a relegation play-off to preserve their position in the World Group. Slovakia's former top player, Dominika Cibulkova, a former World No. 4, retired in November. Thier team is likely to include World No 60 Viktoria Kuzmova, Jana Cepelova and Kristina Kucova.