Emma Raducanu will make her return to competitive tennis in the United Cup, playing alongside Great Britain’s Billy Harris in Australia.

Raducanu ended her 2025 season in October after falling ill in China and missed her final two games of the calendar year in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The United Cup is held in Perth and Sydney and is broadcast live sky sports From Friday 2 January to Sunday 11 January.

The 18 participating countries were divided into 6 groups of 3 teams. Each group played one match against the other teams, and then the 6 first-place teams and the two second-place teams (the best team in Sydney and the best team in Perth) advanced to the quarter-finals.

Each match consists of a men’s match, a women’s match and a mixed doubles match.

Great Britain are in Group E in Perth along with Japan and Greece, and Raducanu will play singles matches against Naomi Osaka and Maria Sakkari.

England will play Japan on Sunday, January 4, before taking on Greece the next day.

Raducanu wishes Draper a speedy recovery

Raducanu was due to partner Jack Draper, but the British men’s number one withdrew as he is still recovering from a left arm problem.

Draper will also miss the Australian Open in Melbourne from January 18 to February 1.

Raducanu said of Draper: “Obviously we’d love to have him in the team. He’s an integral part of British tennis.

“But we just wish him the best. As his teammates, we can only hope he gets better soon so he can join us for future games.”

Raducanu added of British men’s No. 5 Harris: “He’s had a great year and has really broken through in the last few years. It’s been great to spend some time with him and be in a team environment. We’ve had a lot of fun.”

Raducanu confirmed in October that she would continue to be coached by Francisco Roig in 2026, with the Spaniard reaching the third round of the US Open where she was beaten by Elena Rybakina.

Watch the Manchester United Cup and more tennis live on Sky Sports in 2026. Watch tennis and more top sports for free with NOW.