Raducanu was set to face former world No 1 Naomi Osaka in Great Britain’s opening Group E tie against Japan, but she withdrew on the day of the match, raising concerns about her fitness.
Raducanu was set to face former world No 1 Naomi Osaka in Great Britain’s opening Group E tie against Japan, but she withdrew on the day of the match, raising concerns about her fitness.
The British No 1 was replaced by world No 276 Katie Swan, who fell 6-7(4), 1-6 to four-time major champion and world No 16 Osaka.
Great Britain defeated Japan 2-1, though, as Billy Harris won his singles rubber against Shintaro Mochizuki, and Olivia Nicholls and Neal Skupski triumphed in the decisive doubles match.
Raducanu’s participation for the remainder of the United Cup is in doubt, with Great Britain up against Greece in their second group stage tie on Monday. The 23-year-old is scheduled to play Greek No 1 Maria Sakkari.
In the team press conference after Great Britain’s win against Japan, Henman gave an update on Raducanu and addressed whether the world No 29 could feature against Greece.
“Yeah, she struggled with her foot for the end of last year,” said the former world No 4. “The improvement that she’s made has been fantastic.
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“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.
“In terms of tomorrow, 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 tonight, we’ll discuss it as a team.”
On Katie Swan’s performance against Osaka, Henman added: “I think Katie did such a good job today.
“You think about her journey over the last 12, 18 months, to be out there against a Grand Slam champion on a big stage like that in a huge event representing her country, I thought her performance was brilliant.”
Raducanu’s last match was her defeat to Lin Zhu in the opening round of the Ningbo Open on October 14 – a match during which she struggled with a back injury.
