Jack Draper has had a torrid time of late, desperately unfortunate with his fitness routinely failing.
It seems like every time he seemed to be reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, a new setback would occur from seemingly nowhere, resulting in a chain of events that has sent him falling down the world rankings with some speed.
His current position is not indicative of the player he is, and the hope is that he can prove that in the coming months.
That being said, Draper’s decision to register for a Challenger event whilst the Canadian and Cincinnati Open are on is a bold one that will not help him rise any quicker. Minutes on the court are clearly his priority.
So, he will almost certainly head to the US Open needing to qualify for entry, which Greg Rusedski thinks is ludicrous.
Greg Rusedski delivers his honest opinion on Jack Draper’s US Open wildcard chances
Chatting on the latest episode of his Off Court podcast, as shared by Tennis365, Rusedski explained why he feels it just makes sense for Jack Draper to be rewarded with a US Open wildcard.
He insisted, referencing Craig Tiley, the new head of the USTA: “Craig is a smart man, and you need to keep the top players happy.
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“If Jack is healthy with Andy Murray, that still creates a lot of buzz in America if you have that relationship in New York.
“So if the form’s there, yes, he should get a wildcard. If the form isn’t there, then it’s a no. But I’m on the optimistic version that the form’s gonna happen and we’re gonna find out this week in Washington where he’s at.”
Rusedski then wanted to remind people why Draper is deserving, adding: “Don’t forget, Jack was the guy everybody was talking about to mix it up with (Carlos) Alcaraz, (Jannik) Sinner and (Novak) Djokovic, and he was on the cusp of being in there.
“He won Indian Wells and reached the finals in Madrid. And then he’s had a horrid year where he hasn’t been able to play. So the USTA will look at it because what they gotta remember is if Jack’s healthy, he’s one of the biggest names in tennis.
“He’s too big of a talent not to be out there. Let’s see how many weeks he can go through and hopefully he runs all the way through US Open and we don’t have to talk about injuries anymore.”
Where is Jack Draper currently in the world rankings?
After so much time intermittently away from the sport over the last year or so, Draper has unsurprisingly tumbled down the world rankings.
After all, he was unable to properly defend the vast majority of the points he had accumulated across the past 12 months, most notably entering Indian Wells as a physically-hampered defending champion, and missing the Madrid Open completely, where he was a finalist in 2025.
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The former world number four is now 143rd in the world, coincidentally just five places behind Grigor Dimitrov.
This is not nearly high enough to command a direct entry into the main draw of a Grand Slam, making Draper one of many notable names who may have to qualify for the US Open if they are not granted a wildcard.
