Raducanu to return at January's United Cup after injury lay-off

Emma Raducanu will make her return to tennis in the United Cup team competition in Australia in the first week of 2027.

Britain's 2021 US Open champion has not played since June because of a stress fracture of the shin.

Raducanu was beaten by Croatia’s Donna Vekic in her first grass-court final at Queen's Club on 14 June, but had to pull out of Wimbledon on the eve of her opening match just 14 days later.

The 23-year-old contemplated playing a couple of events in Asia this autumn but, by delaying her return until January, she will be able to use a special ranking of 38 to enter tournaments.

A special ranking is available to players who have been out with injury for at least six months. In Raducanu's case, it reflects her position in the world rankings after Wimbledon, as she received some prize money despite not playing a match there.

The current British number five will be able to use a special ranking to enter eight events next year, including two Grand Slams and five WTA 1000 tournaments.

Her actual ranking of 107 would likely be too low to make the main draw of January's Australian Open and most other WTA Tour events.

But with a special ranking, Raducanu will not only be assured of playing in Melbourne but also at the WTA 1000 events in Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami which follow in February and March.

The entry deadline for the United Cup passed on Monday, shortly after Raducanu had her application for a special ranking approved.

A ranking of 38 will make her the British number one for the purposes of this event, giving her the chance to play alongside Arthur Fery in a competition featuring 18 national teams.

Francesca Jones, Jan Choinski and doubles players Neal Skupski and Olivia Nicholls complete the British team for the tournament, which takes place from 1-10 January.

Britain will play Australia and France in their group matches in Sydney, and Raducanu can expect to be face current top-40 players Talia Gibson and Diane Parry.

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Raducanu made a gradual return to training in early September - and four months is a long time to train without any competitive action.

She may also not play any exhibitions between now and the end of the year but a spell of warm weather training is anticipated, with the Middle East a popular destination for players in the run-up to the Australian Open.

Recent practice sessions in London with head coach Andrew Richardson and LTA national coach Alex Ward have been increasing in intensity, according to observers.

But by the time Raducanu returns, she will have been on the sidelines for over six months. Playing a few tournaments in Asia would have helped her regain some match sharpness, and perhaps allowed for a faster start to 2027.

Her fellow Briton Sonay Kartal is a fine example, having enjoyed considerable success since returning from six months out with a stress fracture of the back in September.

After reaching the third round of the China Open in her first WTA Tour event back, she beat world number six Elina Svitolina and then world number 12 Belinda Bencic on her way to the Wuhan Open final.

Kartal says there were a "lot of conversations" about where she should make a return.

"I think I wanted to just go straight in. I trusted that I would be able to get my level back, I just didn't know how quickly," the 25-year-old said.

"But I still think there is a long way to go. I can produce the level, but can I sustain it?

"Rehab is draining, and the body is not used to a lot of matches on the tour, so I do feel the aches and the pains from that."

There will only be 24 candles on Raducanu’s birthday cake later this week, but there is no escaping the amount of time she has missed since her stunning New York victory as a teenage qualifier.

She has averaged just 31 matches a season in the five years since that triumph. Players with aspirations to be inside the world's top 20 would hope to play around twice that number.

Elena Rybakina, for example, played 68 matches across 20 tournaments this year as she rose to the top of the world rankings for the first time.

By contrast, Raducanu played just 21 matches, losing in the second round of the Australian Open and the first round at Roland Garros.

Last year, Raducanu contested a career-best 50 matches, and earlier this year rose to 23 in the rankings shortly after reaching the final in the Romanian city of Cluj.

But her early preparation was affected by bone bruising of the foot, and she did not play for two months between March and May because of a post-viral illness picked up in Cluj.