Raducanu pulls out of Osaka clash at United Cup, citing fitness issues
- Last updated: January 5, 2026 | 10:09 ..
Emma Raducanu’s return to tennis was delayed after the Briton pulled out of her clash with Japan’s Naomi Osaka at the United Cup mixed team tournament in Perth on Sunday due to a foot injury sustained late last year.
Raducanu has struggled with form and fitness problems since her US Open triumph as a teenager in 2021 but she rediscovered her rhythm in a run to the Miami Open quarter-finals last year before ending her season prematurely due to physical issues.
The 23-year-old was set to play her first match since October against Osaka as she builds up for the Australian Open Grand Slam, but team captain Tim Henman said the tie had come too early.
“She struggled with her foot at the end of last year,” Henman told reporters after Britain’s hard-earned 2-1 win.
“The improvement she’s made has been fantastic. She’s been practising in London, only doing static drills, to be out on the practice court and moving and playing games. She’s very close.” Katie Swan stepped up to take on Osaka but Henman did not rule out Raducanu playing in their next group stage encounter against Greece on Monday, although doubts remain.
“In terms of tomorrow, it’s still a little bit up in the air. We’re forced to put Emma on the list because if we didn’t do that, then that only gives us one option,” Henman said.
“When we get back tonight, we’ll discuss it as a team.”
Britain are already without world number 10 Jack Draper, who is nursing a left arm injury that forced him out of tournaments Down Under this year. The Australian Open will run from Jan.18 to Feb.1.
Meanwhile, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios reprised their triumphant Australian Open partnership by winning their opening match at the Brisbane International on Sunday, as the ‘Special Ks’ also marked their return from long-term injuries.
It was the first match on the ATP tour in 167 days for Kyrgios, while Kokkinakis played for the first time since suffering a pectoral injury in January 2025, as the pair beat Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram 5-7 6-4 10-8.
“I’m about to tear up,” an emotional Kokkinakis said in the post-match interview.
“It’s crazy. I haven’t played a match in 12 months... I underwent surgery a year ago with no guarantee I would be back playing. So it’s been a long year, a challenging one a lot of times, where I thought the game was done for me. So I chipped away at it.”
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis won the men’s doubles title in the Australian Open 2022. The pair reunited ahead of last year’s Australian Open, but their campaign ended in the first round due to Kokkinakis’s injury.
The Australian duo will face French sixth seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the second round.
Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin opened her 2026 season with a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriele Ruse in the Brisbane International on Sunday.
Kenin, who won the Australian Open as a 21-year-old in 2020, recovered from a second-set lapse to outlast Ruse and set up a second-round clash against seventh seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
“My last match was in October so it was definitely weird. But I trusted the pre-season I had and I felt like I was playing good tennis,” said the 27-year-old American.
“She is a really tough player and I had to stay with it, definitely wasn’t easy.”
Australian wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic eased into the second round with a 6-1, 6-3 win over France’s Elsa Jacquemot and will now play 11th seed Karolina Muchova.
Agencies