Emma Raducanu will return to tennis in January following a six month injury lay-off as she takes part in the United Cup team competition in the first week of 2027.

The United Cup is a mixed team event played between 18 countries and across multiple cities in the lead up to the first major of the year, the Australian Open.

Raducanu will represent Great Britain and will take to court for the first time since June when she picked up a stress fracture in her shin.

The 23-year-old was beaten 6-0 7-6 (8-6) in the Queen’s final on June 14 by Croatia’s Donna Vekic and missed out on the chance to win a first title on grass. Two weeks later she had to pull out of Wimbledon due to injury and decided not to rush back onto court.

That delay means that Raducanu will need to use a special ranking of 38 to enter tournaments from January. That applies to players who have out with injury for at least six months and for Raducanu it reflects her world ranking position following Wimbledon.

The current British number five will be able to use a special ranking to enter eight events next year, including two Grand Slams and five WTA 1000 tournaments.

Her current ranking of 107 would be too low to enter the main draw of the Australian Open but the special ranking means the Brit can be assured of playing in Melbourne but also at the WTA 1000 events in Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami in February and March.

Britain will play Australia and France in their United Cup group matches in Sydney, and Raducanu is expected to be face current top-40 players Talia Gibson and Diane Parry.

The 2021 US Open champion returned to training in September and could undertake a warm weather camp in the Middle East ahead of her January return to better acclimatise to conditions.