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4 days ago
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Great Britain fell to a bitter 2-0 loss in their decisive United Cup tie against Greece in the round-robin group stage as Emma Raducanu fought hard to overcome her injury-ravaged preparation for the new season before fading badly in her first match of the year, losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 against Maria Sakkari in her first match of the year.
Raducanu’s defeat had been preceded by a courageous performance from the British No 5 Billy Harris, Jack Draper’s injury replacement, who played one of the best matches of his career before falling 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) to the former No 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
In what has become a common theme in Raducanu’s career, the 22-year-old entered the stadium surrounded by doubts about her form and preparation after Sunday’s revelation that she had been struggling with her foot injury throughout the off season. Before the match, the Great Britain captain Tim Henman described her prospects of competing against Greece as uncertain due to her lack of optimal preparation.
There were positives for Raducanu to take from the match – she had no issues with her movement, and as her competitive juices began to flow deep in the second set, she produced some quality shotmaking to force a third set against an impressive Sakkari. However, after giving herself a chance in the match, Raducanu flatlined in the final games while the Greek, one of the fittest players on the tour, easily maintained her intensity to close out her first ever win over the Briton in her fifth attempt.
Earlier, Harris, the ATP No 127, took to the court against one of his most accomplished opponents in Tsitsipas. However, Tsitsipas is now ranked No 34 as he navigates the most difficult period of his career due to injury and poor form.
Those struggles were all evident from the beginning. Tsitsipas opened the match carelessly, his one-handed backhand consistently crumbled under Harris’s pressure. But Harris courageously took his attacking game to Tsitsipas, serving excellently and constantly looking to dominate with his forehand. He brilliantly pushed Tsitsipas throughout, but it was the Greek who served best and took control of the baseline in the final set tie-break to close out a much-needed win.
Elsewhere, Francesca Jones opened her season with the biggest victory of her career as the 25-year-old defeated Emma Navarro, the No 15 and second seed, in the first round of the Auckland Open. Jones, who has steadily risen up the rankings to her current position of No 72, had never previously beaten a player ranked inside the top 40.
