Emma Raducanu to return at United Cup after shin injury

Emma Raducanu will make her comeback at the United Cup in Australia in the first week of January, ending more than six months out with a stress fracture of the shin. BBC Sport reported that the 2021 US Open champion will lead Britain at the mixed team event, which runs from 1 to 10 January.

Why Emma Raducanu waited until January

The 23-year-old has not played since June. She lost to Croatia's Donna Vekic in her first grass-court final at Queen's Club on 14 June, then pulled out of Wimbledon on the eve of her first match two weeks later. She also missed the US Open.

Raducanu thought about playing a few events in Asia this autumn. By waiting until January, though, she can use a special ranking of 38 to enter tournaments.

Special rankings are available to players who have been out injured for at least six months. Hers reflects where she stood in the rankings after Wimbledon, since she received prize money there despite not playing a match.

What the special ranking unlocks

Her current ranking of 107 would likely be too low for the main draw of the Australian Open and most WTA Tour events. With the special ranking she can enter eight events next year, including:

• Two Grand Slams, starting with the Australian Open in Melbourne
• Five WTA 1000 events, such as Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami
• One more event to complete the allowance of eight

The United Cup entry deadline passed on Monday, shortly after her special ranking request was approved, BBC Sport said.

The British team in Sydney

The ranking of 38 makes her Britain's number one for the event, where she will play alongside Arthur Fery. Francesca Jones, Jan Choinski and doubles players Neal Skupski and Olivia Nicholls complete the squad in a competition featuring 18 national teams.

Britain face Australia and France in Sydney in the group stage, so the former US Open champion is likely to meet top-40 players Talia Gibson and Diane Parry.

Preparing after a long break

She began a gradual return to training in early September. She may not play exhibitions before the end of the year, but a spell of warm-weather training is expected, with the Middle East a popular stop for players before the Australian swing.

Observers say her practice sessions in London with head coach Andrew Richardson and LTA national coach Alex Ward have been getting more intense.

Still, four months of training without match play is a long time. A few tournaments in Asia might have helped her find rhythm faster, BBC Sport noted.

A model for a fast return

Fellow Briton Sonay Kartal shows what is possible. She came back in September after six months out with a stress fracture of the back, reached the third round of the China Open, and then beat world number six Elina Svitolina and world number 12 Belinda Bencic on her way to the Wuhan Open final.

Kartal said there were a lot of conversations about where to return, but she chose to go straight in and trust that her level would come back.

The women's game she returns to

Raducanu returns to a tour where the top players have just finished the season at the WTA Finals. Our recent reports cover Mirra Andreeva's win over Sabalenka, Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals and Linda Noskova at the WTA Finals.

Tennis fans in Thailand can watch the United Cup in the first days of January, with Sydney four hours ahead of Bangkok at that time of year, making the matches easy to follow in the afternoon and evening.

Image: Emma Raducanu at the 2025 DC Open. Photo by Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.