Jack Draper has vowed to give his all when he returns to action next week at the Eastbourne International following months of injury setbacks.
Draper, who has been ranked as high as fourth in the world, has played only three tournaments this season, and in one of them, he was forced to retire from his opening match. Since April, he has been sidelined from action due to a knee tendon injury. That setback came after he missed nearly six months of the Tour between 2025 and 2026 due to bone bruising in his left serving arm.
“I’ve been injured for a long time. I’ve had a lot of setbacks, a lot of struggles, especially in this last year,” Draper said during an interview with the LTA.
“But I’ve kept on going. I’ve kept on working really hard. I’m just pumped to be back at a tournament.
“I’m going to give it my all like I always do on the match court, but to be here to be feeling good in my body again and to be ready to compete. Let’s see what happens.”
The 24-year-old made solid progress in the sport before his recent physical struggles. At the end of 2024, he reached his first major semi-final at the US Open, losing to Jannik Sinner in straight sets. During the first half of last season, he won his first Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells before reaching the final of another in Madrid a few weeks later. Overall, he has won five titles on the ATP Tour so far in his career.
Draper returns to the grass swing under the guidance of former world No.1 Andy Murray, who has initially joined on a short-term basis. The collaboration followed the departure of Jamie Delgado, who has also coached Murray.
“Andy, he’s amazing. I have a really great relationship with him off the court, but on the court, there’s not many people more knowledgeable than Andy.” Draper explains.
“He’s been an amazing support to me. Especially in this moment right now to have him believing in me, believing in my tennis and backing me to do well means the world to me.”
Murray, who retired in 2024 before joining Novak Djokovic’s team for six months, knows all too well what it is like to play at the highest level whilst dealing with injury. The most significant problem he faced was a hip issue that threatened to end his career before he underwent resurfacing surgery. A procedure that involved a metal rod being inserted into the top of his femur.
“I don’t think anyone can quite understand what it’s like until you’ve gone through it,” Draper commented.
“Andy obviously has been through so much throughout his career, so much experience, many setbacks, many injuries, many adversities, but he always came through them.
“So having him in my corner has been obviously great from that aspect as well.”
Draper’s return in Eastbourne will not be an easy one, with his opening match currently scheduled to be against Brandon Nakashima, who reached the semi-finals of Queen’s before losing to Francisco Cerundolo.
“This grass court season, I want to just get out there and compete again.” He states.
“It’s been many months now doing the same thing over and over trying to get my body to cooperate, trying to get back on the match court.
“I’ve earned the right to be back on the match court now. And I’ve worked incredibly hard. So this uh grass season I want to compete very very hard.”
Draper is currently ranked 113th in the ATP rankings.
