Jack Draper retired down 6-3, 3-6, 1-4 to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round of the Barcelona Open.
Looking to pick up his first win since beating Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells, Draper retired due to a knee injury in Barcelona.
On Instagram, the Briton admitted it will ‘take time’ for him to work his way out of his injury dilemma.
Where will Jack Draper be ranked by the end of 2026?
Former world number one Andy Roddick has now shared his thoughts on Draper and predicted when he may return to tennis.
Andy Roddick thinks Jack Draper might target a return for the grass-court season
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘, the American reacted to Draper’s statement.
“I just hope he can get out of this. We don’t know what the diagnosis is. It didn’t sound like he was saying ‘I hope to be back next week or in a couple of weeks’. If it’s not great, is he circling the grass court season?” asked Roddick.
“You’re not going to come back, your first tournament back and play three of five sets on clay, I don’t think that’s smart when you’ve had injuries the last year.”
Draper reached the Madrid Open final last year, and will therefore defend 650 points later this month.
Roddick thinks he should forget about those points and start from scratch.
“If I’m his coach, don’t even mention points to defend,” he said.
“Say, I don’t care what Earth thinks you’re ranked; we’re deducting those points right now, you’re ranked 90.
Official ATP Rankings
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 24 | Cameron Norrie | Great Britain | 1,778 |
| 25 | Jakub Mensik | Czechia | 1,700 |
| 26 | Arthur Rinderknech | France | 1,676 |
| 27 | Holger Rune | Denmark | 1,620 |
| 28 | Jack Draper | Great Britain | 1,610 |
| 29 | Tomas Martin Etcheverry | Argentina | 1,590 |
| 30 | Arthur Fils | France | 1,440 |
| 31 | Corentin Moutet | France | 1,433 |
| 32 | Tallon Griekspoor | Netherlands | 1,430 |
| 48 | Jack Draper (Without Madrid Open points) | Great Britain | 960 |
| 115 | Jack Draper (Without Madrid Open/Italian Open/French Open points) | Great Britain | 560 |
“We’re going to have the mentality coming back, of earning our lunch every day.”
Draper could drop out of the world’s top 100 if he misses the remainder of the clay-court season.
A ranking decline few would have predicted 12 months ago…
“We know what his top line looks like,” said Roddick.
“Through May of last year, he was maybe the third-best player in the world. I don’t think that’s crazy.”
Draper was on fire during the first half of the 2025 season, winning Indian Wells, before reaching the Madrid Open final.
Many fans tipped Draper to be the man to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, but injuries put a stop to that.
Roddick is concerned about the mental toll these injuries have taken on Draper, comparing his situation to that of Denmark’s Holger Rune.
“Holger [Rune] was healthy until he wasn’t, and it happened very quickly. It’s a big injury, it’s a long injury, one where you know you have to detach,” he said.
“Mentally, that’s a little different from ‘my elbow hurts, but I’m going to try and come back and play the [US] Open’, I can’t play the Open… I’m going to try to play… I can’t. Then I’m working back and something else happens.
“These starts and stops are really mentally difficult, not to say it’s harder than what Holger is going through; that’s a traumatic injury. But mentally, having those moments where you beat Novak [Djokovic] and then having a sloppy loss, those things are hard.”
Roddick explained how injuries often cause further injuries.
“One thing that is definitely true, when you get hurt and get in a cycle of injuries, injuries tend to happen more often,” he said.
“Not necessarily in [Jack] Draper’s case, because one is an elbow and one is a knee. But when you see someone who has an injured right knee and all of a sudden, there is a left ankle turn, all that s— is connected somehow.”
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Draper, but we can only hope that he returns to full fitness as soon as possible.
How many matches has Jack Draper won this year?
Draper played his first match of the year in February, at the Davis Cup.
There, he easily beat Viktor Durasovic before heading over to the Middle East for the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Draper won his first ATP Tour match of 2026 against Quentin Halys in the first round, but lost to another Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, in round two.
He then headed stateside for Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
Who is to blame for Jack Draper’s injury issues?
Returning as the defending champion, Draper failed to retain his Indian Wells crown.
The former world number four did, however, win three matches, defeating Djokovic en route to the quarter-finals.
First-round defeats in Miami and Barcelona followed, as Draper now holds a 5-4 record for the year.
For context, Draper won 30 matches and lost nine in 2025…
