Emma Raducanu earned her first victory since September after fighting back to beat Camila Osorio in straight sets in the first round of the Hobart International.
The British No 1, the top seed for this tournament, had been 4-2 down and at deuce on her own serve in the second set against the Colombian wild card when rain forced a stoppage on Tuesday.
However, Raducanu returned the following day to claim the second set in a tie-break and win 6-3 7-6 (7-2), having broken the Colombian when she served for the set at 5-4, and will play Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the second round in Tasmania.
The 23-year-old had lost her first match of 2026 earlier this month, beaten by Greece’s Maria Sakkari while representing Great Britain at the United Cup, a mixed-gender team event.
Top seed Raducanu will play Poland’s Magdalena Frech next in Tasmania
Raducanu ended her 2025 campaign in October after suffering from illness in China, while she had been bothered by a foot injury during pre-season and sat out a scheduled singles match versus Naomi Osaka at the United Cup before returning against Sakkari.
Raducanu: This win means a lot
Speaking after her win over world No 82 Osorio, Raducanu said: “These ones mean so much more. It’s such a fine line between winning and losing a match like that.
“It can easily affect your whole mood, your whole days, your whole weeks. I try not to let that happen but it’s very difficult. This is a very good day to stack up.
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Raducanu’s match with Osorio was suspended on Tuesday due to heavy rain with the Brit a set up but 4-2 down in the second
“It was a very difficult match. We played under all conditions and coming on, coming off a few times, it was really difficult.
“I’m just really pleased with how I came out and turned it around and then stuck in during the tie-break.”
Raducanu will be the 28th seed in the women’s singles at the Australian Open, which runs from January 18 to February 1.
The Briton reached the third round in Melbourne last year before losing 6-1 6-0 to current world No 2 Iga Swiatek.
Brits eye main Australian Open draw – as Austria’s Ofner suffers epic fail
In Australian Open qualifying, meanwhile, British men Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen are each one win away from making their main-draw debuts.
Fery beat former top-20 player Bernard Tomic 6-4 6-2 in a little over an hour and will face Croatian Dino Prizmic for a spot in the tournament proper.
Great Britain’s Arthur Fery is a win away from the main draw of the Australian Open
Loffhagen will play American Nishesh Basavareddy after his second-round opponent, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, pulled out injured while trailing 6-3 3-1.
Basavareddy defeated Sebastian Ofner in bizarre fashion, coming through a final-set tie-break after the Austrian prematurely celebrated victory a short while earlier.
Ofner thought he had won after moving 7-1 up, forgetting that in Grand Slams tie-breaks are extended to 10 points, and was then knocked out 4-6 6-4 7-6 (13-11) before Basavareddy mimed a ‘choke’ gesture.
Norrie out of ASB Classic
Meanwhile, Cameron Norrie’s hopes of making the last eight at the ASB Classic in Auckland were ended by a second-round loss to giant Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
The British No 1, playing in the city where he grew up, had a match point in the 10th game of the third set but ended up losing a tight contest 4-6 6-3 7-6 (4).
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