Tim Henman shares update on Emma Raducanu’s progress ahead of the Australian Open.

Emma Raducanu returned to the top 30 of the WTA Tour rankings following an impressive stretch of form in the 2025 season.

Raducanu, who has just been nominated for an LTA Award, achieved career best performances at the Australian Open and Roland Garros this term.

She heads into the 2026 Australian Open as a seed and she will be hoping to build upon her success under new coach Francisco Roig.

Ahead of her return to tennis at the United Cup, Great Britain coach Tim Henman has shared how Raducanu is getting on in the off-season.

Tim Henman offers Emma Raducanu update ahead of the United Cup
Henman will be guiding Raducanu, as well as Jack Draper, Billy Harris, Mimi Xu, and Olivia Nicholls, at the United Cup.

Great Britain have been handed a tough group in Perth, which includes matches against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Naomi Osaka of Japan.

Speaking about Raducanu ahead of the United Cup, Henman revealed: “Emma, she’s been in Spain a bit with Francisco Roig, & she’s again looking to make sure she puts in the necessary work so that she can be ready to hit the ground running in Perth because we’re all aware of the matches we’ve got.”

Raducanu has not played since withdrawing halfway through the WTA Tour’s Asian leg, and her first two games are going to be incredibly difficult.

The star will open her United Cup campaign against Osaka and will follow it up against Maria Sakkari, both of whom have been inside the top five of the WTA Tour rankings.

Tim Henman discusses Great Britain’s chances at the United Cup
Great Britain have not typically performed very well at the United Cup, but Draper and Raducanu making their debuts have bolstered their chances.

Henman is quietly confident that the nation will get through the group stage for just the second time in tournament history.

“When you look at where we are on paper, I think we’ve got a very, very strong team and that’s what excites me.”

He added: “It’s always difficult to predict what’s going to happen because the strength and depth is so good.

“So we’ll do a good job, looking to control what we can control and that’s all about preparation and performance, and if we do a good job of that, then I’m confident we’ve got a good chance of progressing.”

The United Cup begins on 2 January and runs until 7 January, with the tournament taking place in Perth and Sydney.