“They are moving in the right direction” - Great Britain captain Tim Henman offers positive injury update about Draper and Raducanu ahead of United Cup campaign

Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are set to take centre stage in the United Cup, representing Great Britain for the first time in the event. It comes after the duo have been plagued with injury setbacks. Despite this, team captain Tim Henman has offered a positive update while heavily lauding the depth in his team.

The United Cup is a popular event for many talented ATP and WTA players to kick off their season with. It is a chance as well as an honour to represent your country on the main stage while competing against and with different people than you are used to.

This is certainly the case for Draper and Raducanu. Aside from meeting up at the US Open mixed doubles event, they have not taken part much with each other. The two British number one's are carrying the nation's hope into what is set to be another exciting campaign. The progress the pair made last year was very noticeable. Draper backed up his US Open semi-final appearance with a number of deep runs. He won his maiden Masters 1000 title at the Indian Wells Open before losing in the Madrid Open to Casper Ruud. He would climb to as high as fourth in the world. However, his season curtailed when an arm injury forced him to withdraw from the US Open, and has seen him sidelined since.

Raducanu has also continued to make progress. After finishing 2024 58th in the world, a consistent and steady year has seen her rise into the top 32, destined to once again be a seed for a major competition. She could have been even higher that 29th in the world but a poor Asian swing was halted early as she looked to rest and recuperate her body ready for 2026.

After watching them practice in London recently, Henman gave an update on their progress. “[They are] moving in the right direction,” he told unitedcup.com. “Obviously, Jack had a very difficult time … he's building it up. He's got Jamie Delgado now in his corner. So, a lot of experience there. He's just got to keep working day in, day out to build it up so that he's ready to be on the match court.

“Likewise with Emma, she's been in Spain a bit with Francisco Roig, and 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.”

It is a race to be in the best shape possible ahead of their opening group fixture against Japan on January 4. The tie is headlined by an enticing matchup between Raducanu and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. The former US Open champions have met just once, coming earlier this year in the DC Open where Raducanu completed an impressive straight set victory over the former world number one enroute to the semi-finals.

“We play Japan first, and I think all eyes are on Raducanu and Osaka," Henman stated. "They're both US Open champions. They both love hard courts. They've played against each other before, and I think it just emphasises what a great event it is because you've got top players going against each other in the very first match."

Following that was a clash against Greece outfit full of experience. “The following evening, when we play against Greece with [Stefanos] Tsitsipas and [Maria] Sakkari, two players who have been in the top five in the world, we’ve got to be ready. We’ve got to be on our game, and I think that's exciting.”

The obvious standouts on the team are Draper and Raducanu. Along with them will travel recent Challenger Tour winner Billy Harris, doubles world No.1 Lloyd Glasspool, Wimbledon 2025 girls’ singles semi-finalist Mimi Xu and three-time WTA doubles title winner Olivia Nicholls. It is a team packed with experience and class, with all of them already having a taste of winning. 

This is an exhilarating feeling for the former British number one, who has a whole heap of talent to choose from. “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 said. “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," he concluded.