Jack Draper insists he is not playing in Indian Wells to make up the numbers and believes he has the ability to defend his title despite a lack of match play.
The British No.1 recently returned to the Tour following a six-month injury layoff due to severe bone bruising in his service arm. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, he beat Quentin Halys in what was his first ATP match since the US Open. Then, in the second round, he fell in three sets to Arthur Rinderknech.
Draper now has the job of defending 1000 ranking points in Indian Wells, where he won his first Masters title 12 months ago by beating Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune.
“I wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t be in the tournament if I didn’t feel like I could go all the way again,” the AFP News agency quoted Draper as telling reporters in Indian Wells.
“That was probably the primary reason I didn’t go out to Australia, just purely because if I’m going to enter a tournament, I’m going to be in the event. I want to feel like I can be physically ready to not just take part but to go all the way.
“I believe in my tennis so much that when I get out there, I know that I can play some great stuff. I’m feeling like I have improved a lot as a player over the last eight months, but I do recognise that I have been away from the game, and it is a bit of a step up in level to just come straight back to it after that amount of time out of the game. So let’s see what happens.”
Draper is coached on the Tour by Jamie Delgado, who has previously worked with Andy Murray. Delgado joined the team at the end of 2025 following the departure of James Trotman due to personal reasons.
As for his current fitness, Draper states that he no longer ‘has any fear’ around his service arm. However, he isn’t taking his health for granted.
“My main priority is looking after my body, making sure that when I’m able to hit the match court that I’m fully prepared for what’s to come,” he said.
“I know from some of the injuries I have had in the past, I have made mistakes coming back too early, and I think when you do come back too early, you can lose a lot of trust in your body.”
Draper is seeded 14th in Indian Wells. He will start his title defence against either Fabian Marozsan or Roberto Bautista Agut.
