Jack Draper will play his first ATP match of the season next week at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Draper made his return to action earlier this month at the Davis Cup, where he played competitively for the first time since the 2025 US Open.
The Briton had been sidelined for the second half of his campaign last year with an arm injury, which has seen his ranking fall outside the top ten.
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In June last season, Draper reached a career high, having won the Indian Wells Open before reaching the final of the Madrid Open.
He was making plenty of headway on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the top of the rankings, but the injury setback brought a halt to his progress.
Jack Draper discusses his current level on return from injury
In an interview with Khaleej Times, Draper discusses how far away he thinks he now is from Alcaraz and Sinner currently.
He said: “Right now, I am obviously behind, you know, the start of last year, I was building my way up.
“I think obviously this injury has set me back a little bit, just in terms of the fact that I haven’t competed for a while and at the same time, it has made me more resilient and made me learn a lot about my game,” he said.
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“So I think the next year and a half, two years is going to be very interesting for me because I feel like I have a lot to improve, a lot to develop and a lot of experience still to come, which maybe they have over me.
“But I have full belief in myself that I can reach the very top of the game.”
Jack Draper’s first opponent at the Dubai Tennis Championships
Draper is seeded fourth at the Dubai Tennis Championships, and will play either a qualifier or a lucky loser in the first round.
Should he advance, Draper’s second-round opponent will come in the form of either Arthur Rinderknech or Fabian Marozsan.
Seeded first in Dubai is Felix Auger-Aliassime, followed by Alexander Bublik and then Daniil Medvedev.
Other notable names in the draw include Stan Wawrinka and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Draper is making his debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships, which is an ATP 500 competition.
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