By Tony Fairbairn
- After a tough pre-season, Emma Raducanu admitted she was ‘happy’ to get back onto the tennis court after withdrawing from her first match of the week.
- A 2-1 loss to Greece saw Great Britain exit the United Cup in the group stages in Perth.
PERTH, AUSTRALIA – Emma Raducanu has admitted that she is ‘happy’ to be back on court as Great Britain exited the United Cup in the group stages.
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It was disappointment for Great Britain as they exited the United Cup at the group stages, failing to back up their quarter-final from last year’s edition.
The first match took place on Sunday as they faced Japan in sizzling conditions in Perth as they aimed to start their campaign with victory.
Japan had lost to Greece in their opening match and needed to win here to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.
In the first rubber Billy Harris took on Shintaro Mochizuki as Harris looked to build on a positive performance at last year’s event.
Both players were effective on serve but it was Harris who was more efficient as he only lost one point in his opening three service games.
However, it was Harris who was broken first as he lacked authority on his first serve and after failing to convert break point in the previous game the Brit was broken to love in the eighth game.
There was a strong response from Harris as Mochizuki failed to close out the opening set and Harris claimed three consecutive games to take a 6-5 lead.
Serving for the set, Harris was too passive and allowed Mochizuki to dictate the play as the world number 110 broke back to force an opening set tiebreak.
A dominant start was produced by Harris and although he let Mochizuki back into the tiebreak, the Brit ended the tiebreak just as strongly to take the tiebreak 7-4.
The second set saw both players being forced to grind it out from the baseline as Harris showed great character to save two break points in the third game.
That gave Harris some freedom as he edged to a break of serve in the following game and was composed on serve as he gave himself the chance to serve for the match.
Despite Mochizuki having break point, Harris was clutch on the big points as he served out the contest to give the British side an early lead.
It was expected in the second rubber that Emma Raducanu would begin her season against Naomi Osaka in a gigantic clash.
However, Raducanu wasn’t quite ready to take to court and was replaced by the returning Katie Swan in the match.
The world number 270, who had a strong end to last year on the ITF circuit, faced pressure from Osaka as she faced six break points in her opening three service games.
A lack of clinical finishing wasn’t normally associated with Osaka but the former Australian Open champion was unusually erratic on the big points.
That would cost her as it was Swan who broke first in the seventh game as she applied the pressure on Osaka and was rewarded for it.
The Brit would then go through her first service game without conceding a break point to consolidate the break of serve at 5-3.
However, Swan couldn’t quite close out the set and was comfortably broken in the tenth game as the set was level at 5-5.
That disappointment didn’t effect Swan though as she saved set point to force an opening set tiebreak.
After a tight start to the tiebreak, Osaka stepped her game to the next level as she won four of the last five points to take the tiebreak 7-4.
A lack of match practice at this level for Swan would cost her in the second set as the Brit’s form dipped while Osaka was consistently brilliant in the second set.
Three breaks of serve for Osaka would see her take the victory and level the tie at 1-1 with the mixed doubles deciding the winners of the tie.
The mixed doubles would see Olivia Nicholls and Neal Skupski take on Nao Hibino and Yasutaka Uchiyama.
It was a tight contest and a tight first set with there being very little to separate the two teams.
The deciding phase of the first set was the last two games as the British duo saved break point in the eleventh game before breaking serve to take the opening set 7-5.
In the second set Hibino and Uchiyama stepped up their level of play with the Nicholls and Skupski unable to create any chances of return.
A comfortable break in the fifth game was the deciding factor as the Japanese duo took the set 6-4 and levelled the match at one set all.
The final set would go to a ten point match tiebreak which Hibino and Uchiyama made a positive start and were on course to win.
However, a late charge by Nicholls and Skupski saw them cruise through the latter stages of the tiebreak to take it 10-7 as Great Britain eliminated Japan from the competition.
The following day for the British team it was a winners take-all test against Greece with the winners progressing to the quarter-finals.
There was an unlikely scenario where Great Britain could have qualified as runners-up but that scenario never happened and so the British team needed to win this match to reach the last eight.
First up it was Harris leading the British team as he took on Stefanos Tsitsipas in what would be a seismic test for the Brit.
However, Harris rose to the occasion playing some confident tennis while Tsitsipas produced some erratic unforced errors early on.
An early break in the second game was the crucial blow as Harris survived some tests on return from Tsitsipas to take the opening set.
As expected, Tsitsipas did raise his level in the second set as Harris’ form dipped with the Greek playing more aggressive and proactive tennis.
Two breaks of serve sealed the set for Tsitsipas as he took the set 6-1 and the match would be decided in a tense final set.
Any presumptuous thoughts that Harris would just fade away were quickly eliminated as he started the second set aggressively and matched the level of Tsitsipas.
Both players went toe-to-toe with Harris producing some clutch serving in big moments to fend off the pressure from Tsitsipas.
A crucial hold from Tsitsipas from 0-30 ensured that this match would go to a deciding set tiebreak as Harris earned his rewards for being proactive.
Unfortunately for Harris, the Brit couldn’t maintain that level in the tiebreak as Tsitsipas raised his level in crucial moments as he took the tiebreak 7-4 and gave Greece an early lead.
After the match Harris could only take the positives from what was an incredible performance against Tsitsipas.
“I’m glad that the level’s there against someone like that,” Harris told The Guardian.
“It gives me confidence going into the rest of the year. So yeah, no one likes to lose. I’ll take the positives, learn from the match, and hopefully come back stronger against good players again.”
In the second match it was the return of Raducanu as she would face Maria Sakkari with Raducanu leading the head-to-head 4-0.
It looked like it was heading towards a fifth consecutive win when Raducanu broke in the opening game and continued to play confident tennis.
After a nervy start filled with unforced errors, the forehand started firing for Sakkari and the Greek reeled off three games in a row to put the opening set back on serve.
Both players played scrappy tennis in the middle of the set but it was Sakkari who was more consistently proactive as she broke again in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead.
After a long game, filled with Raducanu opportunities it was Sakkari who was braver on the big points as she wrapped up the opening set 6-3.
The lack of practice in the off-season was starting to take its toll on Raducanu as she conceded the break in the third game as an aggressive Sakkari took a 2-1 lead.
This match only seemed to be heading in one direction but Raducanu had other ideas as some inspired shot-making and a change in tactics helped her get the break back.
That break of serve laid the groundwork for a comeback for Raducanu as the Brit continued to battle away, fending off Sakkari opportunities.
The fighting spirit of Raducanu was rewarded a slice of good fortune gave Raducanu the break at 5-3 before the British number one saved break point to hold serve and take the second set.
However, that was only delaying the inevitable from happening as Sakkari stormed to the final set breaking on two occasions as Great Britain exited the United Cup.
There was consolation for the British team though as they avoided the clean sweep against them as Nicholls and Skupski were once again clutch in their match against Despina Papamichail and Stefanos Sakellaridis.
The British duo cruised to the opening set 6-2 before the Greek combination came back to take the second set 6-3.
In the final set, Nicholls and Skupski raised their level to take the match tiebreak 10-4 and salvage some pride for the British team as Greece progressed to the quarter-finals.
Raducanu ‘happy’ with competitive return despite frustrating off-season
It was disappointment for Great Britain as they exited the United Cup but the return of Raducanu will be a positive.
The former US Open champion had to withdraw from her first match due to a lack of practice during the off-season but put up a decent showing against Sakkari.
After the match Raducanu admitted she was happy with how her return to court went.
“Considering the circumstances, doubt whether I was going to play or not today, I’m pretty happy with how I was able to play a match of three sets,” Raducanu told The Guardian.
“Considering I played five, six games in practice, it is a big effort for me. I’m really proud of how I put myself out there, despite the scenario and situation.”
A theme of Raducanu’s career has been dealing with injuries just as she is hitting her stride on the court.
It was a frustrating off-season for Raducanu who will hope that she can build more progress over the season.
The British number one detailed her off-season and remained optimistic ahead of the rest of the year.
“I started hitting two weeks ago, so it’s been a good two and a bit months where I didn’t play. I did fitness,” Raducanu explained to The Guardian.
“It’s been difficult to increase the load and add the unpredictability of the tennis. I think today, being able to produce that, having not played, is just giving me confidence to what I can do when I do practice more. I know now I just need to get my head down, keep working.
“I think you have to just take it as it comes. I went to Barcelona for two weeks, but wasn’t really able to play. I just did a lot of gym where I could, then started static hitting. I played my first points two days ago in practice. It’s been a very fast run path. Today was good exposure. Happy I spent two and a half hours out there and I’m OK right now. I just need to keep going.
“The season is still very, very young. Week one. There’s a long way to go.”
Raducanu is scheduled to play in Hobart next week before the Australian Open gets underway on the 18th of January.
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