Jack Draper of Great Britain announced Friday that he will miss the season-opening Australian swing, including next month’s Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
The highest-ranked Brit in men’s tennis (No. 10 in the world) has been recovering from an arm injury. He hasn’t appeared since late last summer when he withdrew from the U.S. Open, where he was the No. 5 seed.
“It’s a really, really tough decision, obviously Australia being a Grand Slam, it’s one of the biggest tournaments in our sport,” Draper said in a video posted to social media. “However, I’ve had this injury for a long time. I’m at the very, very end stages of the process and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like the smart decision right now for me and my tennis.
“I’ve obviously been through a fair amount of setbacks so far. But by far and away this one has been the most difficult, most complex one that I’ve had.”
Draper, 24, went 30-9 in the 2025 season and claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells.
Draper has three tour-level titles and reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2024.
The 2026 ATP Tour season begins the week of Jan. 5 with Australian Open tune-ups in Hong Kong and Brisbane.
–Field Level Media
