Jack Draper has confirmed he will miss the next two Masters 1000 events in North America after suffering an injury in recent days.
The British No.1 will not be playing in the Canadian Open, which will begin at the end of this month, as well as the Cincinnati Open. Draper lost his opening match in Canada 12 months ago but reached the quarter-finals in Cincinnati. He has been sidelined from action due to a ‘minor’ left forearm injury but is confident of playing in the final Grand Slam of this season.
“After Wimbledon I picked up an injury in my left arm, nothing serious, but I have to make sure it recovers fully for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to compete in Toronto and Cincinnati,” Draper wrote on social media.
Draper’s setback comes ahead of the US Open, where he will be defending a high amount of points after reaching the semi-finals last year. So far, no details have been given about how the world No.5 sustained the injury.
The 23-year-old hasn’t played on the Tour since suffering a surprise second round loss at Wimbledon to Marin Cilic. Draper was the fourth seed in the tournament, which was the highest seeding for a British player since 2018, when Andy Murray was the top seed. So far this year, he has achieved a win-loss record of 29-9 on the Tour.
Sinner, Djokovic out of Toronto
Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner has confirmed he will not be playing at the Canadian Open. The world No.1 is continuing his recovery from winning his first major title on the grass. He won the tournament in 2023 by beating Alex de Minaur in the final.
“Winning that title in Toronto two years ago was the start of a really special moment for me,” said Sinner in a statement.
“But after speaking with my team, I have to recover.”
Sinner had played in the tournament every year since 2021 until now.
Another high-profile withdrawal is four-time champion Novak Djokovic, who has decided to do so for the same reason as Sinner. Djokovic reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon before losing in straight sets to his Italian rival.
“We’re disappointed that Jannik and Novak won’t be playing the National Bank Open this year,” tournament director Karl Hale said in a statement.
“They’re both great champions, and we know that our fans were eager to see them play at Sobeys Stadium. They will be missed, but we still have an incredibly strong player field for this year’s tournament.”
Both Sinner and Djokovic are still on the entry list for Cincinnati.
