Billie Jean King Cup: Great Britain prepare for tough Czech Republic test

"It's best not to underestimate us," says a defiant Harriet Dart.

But Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup squad know full well the enormity of the challenge that awaits them.

On Tuesday, the tight-knit British team - Dart, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Mika Stojsavljevic and Jodie Burrage - take on the Czech Republic in their BJK Cup quarter-final in Shenzhen, China.

GB have reached the semi-finals in three of the past four seasons, but in the Czechs they face the 11-time champions and an eye-watering line-up - the only team boasting two top-10 players at the Finals tournament.

In Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova, they have the current Wimbledon champion and her beaten opponent from this summer's all-Czech final.

While Marie Bouzkova has not yet hit such heights in reaching a major final, the 28-year-old has won two WTA titles this year, including on the Nottingham grass, and team-mate Sara Bejlek, 20, has enjoyed a breakthrough season featuring a first title and victories against the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys.

In doubles, Bouzkova and Noskova teamed up to triumph in Cincinnati in August, though Katerina Siniakova is likely to feature in the BJK Cup as the current top-ranked women's doubles player with 12 Grand Slams to her name.

All five members of the Czech team are ranked higher in the singles rankings than any of the British squad.

"I think naturally we are definite underdogs," Boulter, the current world number 54, told BBC Sport.

"We are the ones that are going to have to make something happen, something special. But that being said, a lot of pressure is on them, and we've seen in this tournament before that people can make upsets, and I think that's what we'll be looking to do.

"I think we have no pressure ourselves, and we're just going to go out there with no expectations."

The tie will be shown on the BBC Sport website and app and on BBC iPlayer, with coverage beginning from 10:00 BST.

Billie Jean King Cup: Czech Republic v Great Britain

Coverage from 10:00 BST on BBC Sport website and app and BBC iPlayer

By her own reckoning, the 2026 season has brought "an improvement" for Boulter, winning her fourth WTA title in Ostrava and beating new world number one Elena Rybakina at Queen's in a year in which the Kazakh won the Australian and US Open crowns.

But the British number one has repeatedly come unstuck against Czech players.

Boulter lost 6-3 7-5 to Muchova in Miami back in March but fell to a more emphatic defeat to her in the US Open second round earlier this month, winning just one game in a "bad day at the office".

She faced Noskova in Cincinnati in August and lost 6-3 6-3, but Boulter can take confidence from the fact she beat the Czech in straight sets in Osaka in October 2025.

"They are both incredible players, both extremely good at what they do," Boulter, 30, said.

"They have been in places that I've never been before. So I think for me, it's about taking it to them.

"Their base level is so high, you can't play the same way that you would normally play if you were to play someone ranked a lot lower.

"I think you have to give them respect, but also play the ball that's coming at you at the same time. That's my challenge, to focus on the ball coming at me and try and impose my own game.

"I think there are ways I'm going to try and win points, and that's through what I'm doing, not what they're doing."

Dart, who lost 6-2 6-2 to Bouzkova in the US Open second round, said: "I think even though the match-up on paper here is pretty rough for us, at the same time I know how well this team can play.

"We have strong belief within ourselves and within our own team that we can do well in this competition."

Great Britain qualified for Shenzhen - their fourth BJK Cup Finals in five years - by shocking Australia in Melbourne in April.

Boulter and Kartal were among a list of absentees from that squad - including Emma Raducanu, who is again missing through injury - but the pair's return to the line-up strengthens captain Anne Keothavong's side.

Should they pull off an upset and beat the Czechs, GB would next play the winner of the quarter-final between Kazakhstan - who are without Rybakina - and Spain on Friday.

"I think pressure is a privilege, isn't it? I think whoever you're drawn against in this competition, particularly when you've made it through to the Finals, there are no easy matches," said Keothavong.

"We've seen over the years how people are able to rise to the occasion when they represent their nation. I've seen it from the players here beside me.