Jack Draper has had far from ideal preparation for his Indian Wells title defence.
Draper has the pressure of defending 1000 ranking points at Indian Wells this year, after winning the biggest title of his career so far in 2025.
However, the Briton has only played one ATP tournament in the last six months, with a bone bruise in Draper’s arm preventing him from playing more than four matches since Wimbledon.
Draper returned to the ATP Tour at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week, and he has now revealed how his arm has responded after playing two matches.
Jack Draper reveals how his arm responded after playing in Dubai
Draper won his first match back on the ATP Tour against Quentin Halys, before suffering a three set defeat in the second round to Shanghai Masters finalist Arthur Rinderknech.
After spending over four hours on the match court in Dubai, Draper spoke to the New York Times and provided a positive update on his arm.
“(It) responded really, really well,” revealed Draper. “I can’t ask for a better week and it gives me a lot of confidence now that I’m able to keep backing up week after week.”
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During his lengthy period on the sidelines, Draper hired Jamie Delgado before announcing his split from long-term coach James Trotman.
Delgado previously worked with Andy Murray for five years, before more recently spending time in the coaching box of Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov.
When asked about their relationship, Draper only had positive things to say about Delgado.
Draper said, “He’s a guy who’s not got much of an ego, he’s someone that I get on extremely well with, that I trust, and hopefully we can achieve great (things) together.”
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Who is in Jack Draper’s draw at Indian Wells?
Draper has been practicing at Indian Wells ahead of his title defence, and he now also knows who he could face in the Californian desert.
As the 14th seed, Draper receives a bye to the second round, where he will play either Fabian Marozsan or former top 10 player Roberto Bautista Agut.
The first seeded player Draper could play in his section of the draw is Francisco Cerundolo, against whom he has lost both of his previous matches.
If Draper is able to overcome that potential Cerundolo match then he could face Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, having not played the 24-time Grand Slam champion since Wimbledon in 2021, when he was just 19 years old.
The main draw at Indian Wells will get underway from Wednesday, March 4, but Draper will not begin his title defence until at least Friday.
With 1000 points to defend, Draper risks dropping outside the top 30 and losing his status as British number one if he suffers an early exit.
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