Billie Jean King Cup 2024 qualifying: Great Britain take on France in bid for finals spot

Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong says her side are the "heavy underdogs" in their Billie Jean King Cup qualifying tie against France - but they are happy to put "all the pressure" on their opponents.

The winner will secure a place in November's finals in Spain.

British number one Katie Boulter will open Friday's tie - which is live on the BBC - against Diane Parry.

That will be followed by Emma Raducanu against Caroline Garcia.

"It's going to be very difficult, no doubt about it," Keothavong told BBC Sport.

"We are the heavy underdogs - and I'm happy to put all the pressure on the French team.

"The expectations are on them. None of that really fazes us, because we are excited for the challenge."

Britain reached the semi-finals of the 2022 competition but did not make the last eight last year, having lost their qualifier against France.

The two nations have played each other four times, with Great Britain and France winning twice each.

You can watch the tie live on the BBC Sport website and app and BBC iPlayer, alongside live text commentary on the website. Friday's tie is also on BBC Red Button from 13:30 BST.

The tie between GB and France takes place on an indoor clay court in Le Portel in northern France.

Each play-off tie is a best-of-five series, with four singles matches followed by a deciding doubles match if needed.

The winner progresses to November's Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Spain.

Twelve nations compete in the Finals event - eight qualifiers, last year's finalists Canada and Italy, host nation Spain and a wildcard.

The loser of the tie in France will compete in Group I events in 2025.

Boulter, the British number one and world number 28, is the highest-ranked player in Anne Keothavong's side.

Boulter recently won the biggest title of her career at March's San Diego Open and broke into the world's top 30 for the time.

Former US Open champion Raducanu is also in line to play in her first BJK Cup event since April 2022 as she works her way back from a lengthy injury lay-off.

"I got two good weeks in on clay and I'm looking forward to the challenge of it," Raducanu said.

"I love moving on this surface. I think I learned pretty quickly and I'm starting to feel a lot better on the surface."

Boulter and Raducanu are joined by Dart, who clinched Britain's spot in the qualifiers, and Watson, who will be appearing in her 36th tie.

Jones was a late addition to the squad, fresh from reaching her first WTA 125 final on the clay courts in Mexico.

World number 23 Garcia is the highest-ranked player in either team, and has previously been as high as number five in the world.

Garcia is an experienced singles and doubles player, having won two Grand Slam doubles titles alongside team-mate Kristina Mladenovic.

Mladenovic herself is a former world number one in doubles and was previously a top-10 singles player.

The relatively inexperienced Parry and Clara Burel complete their team.