Emma Raducanu is ready for a showdown in her very first match of the 2026 season as she is because of meet four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka on the United Cup.
After Raducanu and Osaka each signed as much as make their United Cup debut in January and their respective nations landed in the identical group, there was an enormous likelihood that the 2 Grand Slam winners may sq. off in early 2026. On January 2nd, Japan will tackle Greece and the top-ranked Japanese feminine tennis participant is because of face Maria Sakkari.
Two days later, Nice Britain will kick off its United Cup run by taking up Japan in Perth. After Jack Draper and Shinzaro Mochizuki conclude their match, Raducanu and Osaka will step out on the court docket. It is going to be the second assembly between the 2 – the primary got here through the summer season when the British tennis star beat the Japanese former world No. 1 6-4 6-2 within the Washington round-of-16.
How is Raducanu feeling forward of beginning her 2026 season?
Final week, the 2021 US Open champion met with British reporters for an interview and mentioned a variety of matters. Throughout their dialog, the 23-year-old mentioned that she was feeling "content material" and "settled" this offseason.
“I feel I went by means of some very troublesome instances on and off the court docket at the beginning of the yr. However I feel it actually taught me, just like the energy that I’ve to drag myself out of it. Additionally what I must do to keep away from falling again in once more. A variety of it’s spending time learning, spending time studying, spending time nurturing my mind and simply continuously that’s one thing I would like. Studying about myself has been an awesome factor. So I really feel very content material," the world No. 29 mentioned final week.
Osaka might be an enormous check proper out of the gate and profitable that one would definitely be a confidence booster for Raducanu.
