Britain’s Jack Draper will miss the rest of the clay court season, including the French Open, as he continues to deal with a tendon issue in his right knee.
“My knee is on the mend and I’ve started back hitting balls but unfortunately I have been advised not to play Roland Garros,” Draper posted on Instagram on Wednesday. “As gutting as it is to miss another Slam, the advice is not to rush straight back into playing five set tennis on clay.”
Draper, 24, did not play in Monte Carlo earlier this month and on April 13 was forced to retire in the third set of his first-round match at Barcelona, his only clay court match of the season.
He then announced his withdrawal from back-to-back ATP 1000 tournaments in Madrid last week and Rome in early May.
Draper had been working his way back from a separate injury, bone bruising in his serving arm, that limited him to just one match last year after exiting Wimbledon.
He returned to ATP Tour action in February at the Dubai Tennis Championships then lost to Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells in early March. He then fell to Reilly Opelka in the first round of the Miami Open before retiring in his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Barcelona.
“Off the back of the arm injury I sustained last year, I’ve been restricted with my training and by giving myself the time to heal and build, I can be the player I want to be out there once again,” Draper said on Instagram.
The three-time ATP Tour title winner has a 5-4 singles record in 2026 but has not won a match since beating Novak Djokovic in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells on March 11.
Currently ranked No. 28, Draper’s extended absence means he will likely drop out of the men’s tennis top 100, a huge fall from his No. 4 ranking in June 2025.
His best finish in a Grand Slam was his semifinal appearance at the 2024 U.S. Open.
–Field Level Media
