Emma Raducanu was able to make a belated season debut for Great Britain at the United Cup but suffered a first ever loss to Maria Sakkari.
The 23-year-old was a late withdrawal from Britain’s opening match at the mixed team event in Perth against Japan on Sunday because of a foot problem that bothered her throughout preseason.
Playing her first match since October after she struggled with illness at the end of last season, Raducanu lacked the sharpness and stamina required to make it five wins from five against Sakkari, going down 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to condemn Britain to defeat against Greece.
Raducanu was supported courtside by both her coach Francisco Roig and GB captain Tim Henman, who told Sky Sports: “I said before the last match she was really, really close.
“She had another good practice session and she wanted to get out there and give it a try. She’s been brilliant as a part of the team, she loves representing her country, so it’s fantastic to have her out on the court tonight.”
Raducanu made the perfect start, breaking the Sakkari serve in the opening game, but soon found herself under pressure, with the Greek winning six of the last seven games in the opening set.
It was the first set Sakkari had managed to win against the former US Open champion, with their first meeting coming during Raducanu’s famous run in New York.
Raducanu has previously been able to break down Sakkari and force her into a slew of errors but it was a different story this time.
Raducanu can take encouragement from the way she fought back from a break down to win the second set but, as she did in several matches at the end of last season, the world number 29 faded quickly in the decider.
Earlier, Billy Harris came agonisingly close to one of the biggest victories of his career when he lost out to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a deciding tie-break.
Harris, ranked nearly 100 places lower than the Greek at 127, won the opening set and pushed Tsitsipas all the way in a 4-6,6-1,7-6 (4) defeat.
Tsitsipas praised his British opponent, who was a replacement for the injured Jack Draper, saying: “I would like to congratulate Billy, he put out an incredible performance.
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“I haven’t played such a high quality match in a long time. He did absolutely great pushing me to my limits and I think matches like that, regardless of who wins and loses, are great for the sport.”
Elsewhere, Coco Gauff’s serving struggles resurfaced as she hit 14 double faults in a 6-1 6-7 (3) 6-0 loss to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, although she returned to the court alongside Christian Harrison for a doubles victory that booked the USA’s spot in the quarter-finals.
Iga Swiatek had to fight from a set down to defeat Germany’s Eva Lys 3-6 6-3 6-4, which secured victory for Poland after Hubert Hurkacz had marked his return from seven months out with a knee injury by beating Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4.
