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Emma Raducanu remains hopeful that she will be able to compete this week at the United Cup after her 2026 season began with a concerning false start when she was forced to withdraw from her opening match in Perth.
Raducanu pulled out of her highly anticipated clash with Naomi Osaka just an hour before play began but a significantly weakened Great Britain team admirably battled hard in the searing heat.
Billy Harris, who had replaced the British men’s No 1 Jack Draper, opened the tie with a strong win, defeating Shintaro Mochizuki 7-6 (4), 6-3. Raducanu was replaced by Katie Swan, who lost 7-6 (4), 6-1 to Osaka.
Before Swan took to the court, Raducanu, who has been managing a foot injury since the end of last season, opted not to elaborate on her physical health but struck a hopeful tone: “I think, at the end of the day, it’s a team event and Katie’s playing great so it gives me an extra day, so looking forward to this match,” Raducanu said.
The first week of the tennis season has done little to change opinions of Great Britain’s top players, Draper and Raducanu, whose young careers have been filled with various physical issues. The duo were two of the earliest commitments for the United Cup, an exciting team that immediately marked Britain as tournament favourites in the build up to the event, but once again Draper and Raducanu have had to manage their frail bodies.
Draper was forced to withdraw from the event due to his continued recovery from bone bruising to his left arm, which will keep him out of action for at least six months.
Raducanu’s issues are less severe and she has been training throughout the past week in Perth, but this still represents another disappointing setback after being relatively healthy for most of the 2025 season. The 23-year-old was present all day inside the RAC Arena, loudly cheering on the Great Britain team from her bench alongside her coach Francisco Roig.
“I’ve got to be honest, she was very, very close,” Tim Henman, the Great Britain captain, said in an interview with Channel Nine. “It was not an easy decision. She had been building up and practicing really well. I don’t think she is necessarily out of this tournament just yet.”
Raducanu is not the only player in Perth to navigate physical ailments; Harris had a fever in the buildup to the season and Osaka said her final preparations for the had been hurt by illness, which was evident in her continual coughing throughout her opening loss to Maria Sakkari.
While attendances have been solid in Perth, there a number of players have been dealing with physical issues in the first week of the season. Taylor Fritz, one of the other prominent names, struggled with a knee injury in his opening loss to Sebastián Baez on Saturday. However, Coco Gauff rallied to clinch a victory for the USA in style, winning her singles match and the decisive mixed doubles rubber alongside Christian Harrison in straight sets. The 40-year-old Stan Wawrinka, however, is still going strong and began his final season with a supreme three-set, three hour, 16-minute win over No 29 Arthur Rinderknech on Saturday.
The absence of the top British men’s and women’s players represented an opportunity for two lesser-known players to establish themselves among the elite. Harris, the men’s No 128, only learned that he would be taking Draper’s place in this event on Christmas Eve, less than a week before most players began to travel to Perth. Last year, he also replaced an injured Draper at the United Cup, performing well against higher-ranked opponents but losing all three matches.
This time, Harris took advantage of a winnable match-up to secure his first victory in the competition, overpowering the diminutive world No 99 Shintaro Mochizuki with his superior serve and forehand.
