At the end of October it was announced that Great Britain would be led at the United Cup by the top-ranked male and female players.
But on December 26, Britain’s United Cup team suffered a major setback when Draper announced he was not ready to play in Australia due to his ongoing left arm injury.
The British team has now arrived in Perth and their team consists of Raducanu, Katie Swan, Olivia Nicholls, Billy Harris and Neal Skupski. Former six-time Grand Slam semifinalist Tim Henman is the team captain.
Raducanu: It would have been great to have Draper there… I hope he comes back soon
“Obviously we would love to have him in the team. He is such an integral part of British tennis and it would have been great to have him here. But we wish him all the best and as his teammates we can only hope that he improves quickly so he can join us for the future events,” the 2021 US Open champion said. Air sports.
When Draper announced he would miss the first month of 2026, he claimed it was his “toughest” injury.
“I’ve obviously had my fair share of setbacks so far, but this one was by far the hardest, the most challenging and the most complex that I’ve had,” said the three-time ATP champion.
Raducanu and Draper were expected to play singles for Great Britain at the United Cup. But since the 10th-ranked ATP player withdrew from the mixed team event, world number 128 Harris is expected to get the nod for singles action.
Great Britain kicks off their United Cup campaign on January 4.
Raducan will play Naomi Osaka, while Harris will face Shintaro Mochizuki.
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