Billie Jean King Cup: Anne Keothavong without Johanna Konta for play-off against Mexico

Anne Keothavong's Great Britain team will be favourites to make it through to the qualifying round for the Billie Jean King Cup 12-team finals event in 2022 against Mexico despite the absence of No 1 Johanna Konta

Image: Jodie Burrage has been selected for Great Britain's play-off against Mexico in the absence of No 1 Johanna Konta

Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong has selected Jodie Burrage for the first time in the absence of Johanna Konta ahead of Great Britain's play-off against Mexico on 16-17 April.

Burrage, who reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No 233 in 2019, makes the squad after putting on an impressive display to claim the ITF Dubai title at the weekend.

The 21-year-old comes in for British No 1 Konta, who announced she will not be part of the British team for the tie because of the amount of time her body will need to transition ahead of the clay-court campaign.

With the tie being played on indoor hard courts at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, Konta has said she wants to give her troublesome knee time to adjust to the dirt.

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Image: Heather Watson will lead the British squad as the No 2 (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

With the winners looking to secure a place in the qualifying round for the 12-team finals event in 2022, Keothavong has picked British No 2 Heather Watson to lead the squad alongside Katie Boulter, who has an impressive record in the team tournament, with Harriet Dart, Katie Swan and debutant Burrage completing the group.

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Keothavong said: "I'm pleased to be able to announce the squad for this tie and I'm really looking forward to everyone linking up again.

"Heather has shown great commitment to the team and the competition over the years and Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart have both shown their character in recent ties as well. Along with Katie Swan and Jodie Burrage we have a strong group of players who I'm confident can do us proud.

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"We all know the LTA's National Tennis Centre very well and we're looking forward to a competitive tie in familiar surroundings, and hopefully we can advance to the 2022 Finals."

Image: The British team will be hoping for more Billie Jean King Cup - former Fed Cup - glory later this month

The tie is the third time since 2019 (having played away for 26 consecutive years) that Great Britain team will have the opportunity to play on home soil.

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