Jack Draper finally made his return to competitive tennis at the Davis Cup earlier this month.
In his first match in five months, Draper defeated Viktor Durasovic of Norway in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2 to give Great Britain a point in the tie.
The British number one last featured at the 2025 US Open, where he won his opening matchup against Federico Agustin Gomez before pulling out of the tournament and shutting down the season due to an arm injury.
What does Jack Draper need to change about his career to keep fit?
Draper suffered from bone bruising in his arm for the majority of his campaign last year, and since his US Open exit, he has withdrawn from several tournaments to give himself enough time to recover.
After his latest withdrawal from the Rotterdam Open, former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski took a moment to discuss the 24-year-old’s struggles.
Greg Rusedski discusses Jack Draper’s injury issues
Speaking on ‘Off Court with Greg‘, Rusedski said: “Well, the thing which I found really fascinating was he discussed in an article, he said, look, the reason I’ve got the injury is because I’m trying to keep up with the tempo and pace that Alcaraz and Sinner play at.
“I’ve pushed my body too hard when it wasn’t ready. And that’s one of the reasons he said he got this injury and this bruising.
“So, you know, we love his game. We love his personality. He’s great for tennis in Britain and globally. And we wish him the best of luck.
“And we want to see him back on court consistently playing week in, week out. And, you know, he’s too great a player to miss because he was kind of like the third guy knocking on the door.
How would you solve the tennis injury crisis?
“So we wish Jack all the best. We want to see him back healthy.”
Jack Draper’s dip in the ATP rankings over the past year
Draper reached a career-high ATP ranking of fourth in the world last year, but during his time out, that ranking has now dipped.
In October, Draper fell outside the top ten for the first time since March 2025 and ended the year ranked 10th.
He started 2026 11th, but after missing out on the entirety of the Australian swing, Draper fell to as low as 13th.
Now ranked 12th, if Draper does not feature at the Indian Wells Open, he will plummet even further, as he is the reigning champion in ‘Tennis Paradise’.
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