Jan 7 (Reuters) - Emma Raducanu said it was an alien feeling to be back on court after more than two months away and that her three-set battle with Maria Sakkari at the United Cup on Tuesday had given her confidence she can safely increase her workload in practice.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion had withdrawn from her scheduled match with Naomi Osaka at the mixed-team event on Sunday due to the foot injury sustained late last year but was able to face Greece's Sakkari in Perth.
The 23-year-old lost 6-3 3-6 6-1 as Britain exited the competition, but Raducanu saw positives in her return to the game.
“I am pretty happy with how I was able to play a match of three sets,” she told reporters. “Considering I played five or six games in practice, it’s a big effort for me.”
Raducanu has struggled since her breakthrough triumph as a teenager in New York, with injuries and inconsistent form limiting her progress. She reached the Miami Open quarter-finals last year before ending her season early.
“It’s been a good two and a bit months where I didn’t play,” she said.
"It's been difficult to kind of increase the load and add the unpredictability of the tennis.
"I think today, being able to produce that, having not played, is just giving me confidence to what I can do when I do practice more.
“Initially you feel a little bit alien on the court, in the first set, just playing points again.
"I know now I just need to get my head down, keep working.”
Raducanu will return to action at the Hobart International, which starts on January 12, before the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, gets underway from January 18.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
