EMMA RADUCANU suffered a false start to the new tennis season as she withdrew from the United Cup in Australia due to injury.
Britain’s highest-ranked female star was set to play Japan’s Naomi Osaka in a singles rubber in Group E of the team tennis tournament in Perth.
Yet just an hour before play was about to start, it was announced she was out due to an ongoing foot problem.
This is the same issue that had seen her end her 2025 campaign prematurely.
It is a major worry for Raducanu, especially with the Australian Open in Melbourne later this month.
Katie Swan, 26, was drafted in at short notice and went down 7-6 6-1 to four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka.
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Yet world No128 Billy Harris – the replacement for the injured Jack Draper – beat Shintaro Mochizuki 7-6 6-3.
And then the doubles pairing of Olivia Nicholls and Neal Skupski won their rubber in three sets as Britain beat Japan 2-1.
Captain Tim Henman said: “Emma struggled with her foot at the end of last year.
“The improvement that she’s made has been fantastic.
“She’s been practising in London, really only doing static drills, to be out on the practice court and moving and playing games. She is very close.”
Britain face Greece on Monday in the Western Australia city and Raducanu had been paired to play Maria Sakkari – whom she beat en route to her 2021 US Open triumph.
Henman, 51, added: “It’s still a little bit up in the air.
“We’re kind of forced to put Emma on the list because if we didn’t do that, then that only gives us one option. When we get back, we’ll discuss it as a team.”
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