Emma Raducanu’s return to tennis has been delayed after the Briton pulled out of her tie against Japan’s Naomi Osaka at the United Cup mixed team event in Perth on Sunday.
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 quarterfinals last year before ending her season prematurely due to physical issues.
The 23-year-old Briton was set to play her first match since October against Osaka as she builds up her preparations for the Australian Open Grand Slam, but team captain Tim Henman said the tie had come too early.
“I have to be honest, she was very close,” Henman told Australian broadcaster Nine.
“It wasn’t an easy decision. She had been building up and practising really well. But we just felt this morning it was a little bit too early.”
Local media reports said Raducanu withdrew due to injury.
“I don’t think she’s necessarily out of this tournament just yet. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Henman said, without giving details.
Britain’s next group stage match is against Greece. The team are already without world number 10 Jack Draper, who is nursing a left arm injury.
The Australian Open runs from January 18 to February 1.
Taylor Fritz of the US. Picture: (Andrew Couldridge/Reuters)
World number six Taylor Fritz may not be at full fitness for this month’s Australian Open after the American said a niggling knee issue had prevented him from pushing too hard in his season-opening defeat at the United Cup.
The 2024 US Open runner-up cut a frustrated figure in Saturday’s 4-6 7-5 6-4 loss to Argentine Sebastian Baez in Perth and said he may need a spell on the sidelines to recover fully.
“It’s not the way I want to start the year. There’s definitely a lot of rust showing,” Fritz, who is expected to be one of the main contenders for the title at the first Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park, said.
“I spent the majority — pretty much the entirety of the off-season — trying to rehab my knee tendinopathy, but that’s a thing that takes months and months to get better.
“I didn’t get to play a lot of points because I’m trying not to push it too hard,” he told reporters.
Fritz said he would try to get more time on court while managing the knee issue.
“But if that doesn’t work in a couple of months, then I am just going to have to full stop and fix it.”
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka begins his farewell season. Picture: (Jeremy Piper/Reuters TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Meanwhile, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka began his farewell season with a battling victory over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech at the United Cup on Saturday and declared that turning 40 had not dulled his competitive edge.
Switzerland’s Wawrinka, who made his debut in 2002 and will celebrate his 41st birthday in March, said last month he wanted to bring the curtain down on his career at the end of the season.
He toiled in the Perth heat to seal a 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(5) win over world number 29 Rinderknech, showing the resilience he will hope to take to this month’s Australian Open, an event he won in 2014 before enjoying further Grand Slam triumphs at the French and US Opens.
“I’d have loved a quicker win, but no, this is why I keep playing. I’m passionate about the game. I’m always going to push my own limit,” Wawrinka told reporters after giving his team a 2-0 lead. — Reuters
