Emma Raducanu suffered defeat in her comeback match on Monday as Greece’s Maria Sakkari won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the United Cup, live on Sky Sports Tennis.
Raducanu ended last season early due to physical problems in China, and was playing in his first game since mid-October. She missed the last match against Naomi Osaka, but it didn’t matter too much as Great Britain started their United Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Japan in Perth.
However, in the second leg Billy Harris lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas as Britain inflicted defeat on Radukanu and Greece secured victory.
Harris won the first set, but Tsitsipas ultimately won 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).
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Raducanu talks about playing in the United Cup, the start of the new season and misconceptions about life as a tennis player
In the Laducanu contest, Sakkari fought back to win six of the last seven games and claim the championship, despite the Brit taking an early break in the first set.
This was the first set that Sakkari managed to win against the former US Open champion, and the first meeting between the two comes as Raducanu is on a storied run towards the US Open title in 2021.
Raducanu has successfully defeated Sakkari in the past and forced him into making a ton of mistakes, but this time was different.
Raducanu may have been encouraged by the way she fought back from a breakdown to win the second set, but the world No. 29 quickly faded in the deciding match, as she did in several matches late last season.
In fact, Sakkari proved much stronger in the third set, with only one winner.
Britain’s Emma Laducanu suffers defeat in the United Cup on her return to tennis
Raducanu spoke to Sky Sports’ Laura Robson before the start of the United Cup in Australia and admitted he was feeling anxious ahead of the new season.
“It (butterflies) does happen, because you haven’t seen the same face for a while and all of a sudden you start seeing the same face and you remember how you felt then,” the British No. 1 said.
“You get out of the habit of playing tournaments and games. So I think it’s going to be interesting to deal with that and deal with it as well.”
The 23-year-old, who could be seeded in this year’s first Grand Slam, joined the team on a trip to Rottnest Island outside Perth, where she cleared up misconceptions about life as a tennis player.
She said: “When I went to Rottnest, it took me 4 and a half hours round trip to spend 20 minutes on the island. But I think the general public only sees photos taken on the island.”
“I had to be in the gym at 7am, play Rottnest from 9am to 1.30am, play tennis from 2.30pm to 4.35pm, and then do treatment until about 7pm, so by the time I get back, the day goes by like that. It’s just part of our lives, but it’s like not posting about all the work we do either.
“What we do in the media is like training because it’s part of the job. So I think that’s probably one of the misconceptions.”
ready to show her versatility
Raducanu continues to train with coach Francis Roig
Raducanu sat out several exhibition matches in the United States last month to regain full fitness for the 2026 season. A minor bone bruise in his right foot was a contributing factor, but it is not thought to have prevented him from preparing for pre-season last month with new Barcelona manager Francis Roig.
“He’s a big supporter of using my skills because I think the great part of my game is the ability to put things together and change the play,” the world No. 29 said.
“It’s nice to feel like we’re pretty prepared for this year. I’ve never had a weird feeling, but that’s good. And we’re working on feeling good and feeling ready. We’re really hard and serious in the race, but we’re also kind of relaxed heading into the race.”
Britain’s Jones claims biggest win of career over Navarro
Britain’s Fran Jones scored the biggest win of her career to date, defeating world No. 15 Emma Navarro in the first round of the ASB Classic.
Britain’s No. 3 Jones defeated the second-seeded American 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in her first match of 2026 to advance to the second round in Auckland, where she will face Austrian qualifier Sinja Kraus.
Fran Jones celebrates during match against Emma Navarro
Jones decisively broke Navarro’s serve at 5-5 on the restart after a rain delay to win the first set, then lost the second set before breaking the American’s serve in the second set of the third.
He did not get his serve broken after that, and achieved his first win against a player ranked in the top 20.
Navarro scored more points during the match, and Jones said in an on-court interview after the memorable win:
“The first game of the year wasn’t easy, to be honest. But I’m really grateful to the team. The last few days have been tough and preparing for the season is always really complicated for any player.”
“Emma can play at a better level, everyone can play at a better level. It’s important to find our feet, but for me, the most important thing is to go into the first game of the year with the right attitude, so thankfully we were able to do that.”
Jones, 25, has reached the semifinals twice on the WTA Tour, the second time being in Sao Paulo last September.
She is currently ranked 72nd in the world, one place ahead of her previous best record set in October last year.
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