In the blink of an eye, British excitement ahead of Wimbledon was wiped out.
This was made all the tougher given that, in the weeks leading up to the event, excitement had been growing suitably.
After all, Emma Raducanu had reached the final of Queen’s, and Jack Draper, although forced to delay his comeback, enjoyed a run to the semi-finals at Eastbourne.
The country’s two top talents on the men’s and women’s sides seemed like they were peaking at the perfect time, and yet neither managed to make it in time for their first-round matches.
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Raducanu was the first to withdraw from Wimbledon, before Draper soon followed suit.
It has, unsurprisingly, caused an inquest into the issues plaguing British tennis, with some searching rather desperately for conclusions that are not there.
Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu’s injuries blamed on the tennis calendar
One such argument was underpinned by journalist Jon Wertheim, who has used this double withdrawal to reinforce a point about the schedule being too harsh on the players.
Whilst that is undeniably true, it is not of these two Brits, neither of whom have played enough in recent years to have been truly ravaged by it.
In fact, at the end of last year, Raducanu actually said the schedule didn’t bother her, arguing: “I don’t necessarily think the WTA calendar is something to complain about.”
And yet, Wertheim took to X to argue: “Draper joins Raducanu unable to post …. You know it’s serious when Brits are compromising @Wimbledon campaigns…. at some point, the sport will decide to come together and have a meaningful, data-driven discussion about player health and wellness”.
His point is fair and undeniable, but his reference points are invalid. Draper and Raducanu are suffering from something far more worrying than just the tennis schedule.
Why Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are suffering from deeper issues than the schedule
In the last 12 months, Draper has completed just 14 matches.
In 2026 alone, Raducanu has only managed nine tournaments, losing in the first round of four of them.
Their injury issues are unfortunate, but are clearly not born of overuse. Neither has played enough in recent years to have had the misfortune.
After suffering a bone bruise to his arm around this time last year, Draper took seven months off from the tour, returning in February before injuring his knee in April. Two completely unrelated injuries, neither of which would have been caused by overuse.
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Draper has also withdrawn from Wimbledon because of a relapse in this arm injury.
Meanwhile, the bulk of Raducanu’s issues this year have been health-related, suffering illnesses which have rendered her powerless. Again, these were not brought about due to too much tennis.
Very few would argue that the tennis schedule is not too busy, but Draper and Raducanu’s Wimbledon withdrawals sadly do not prove that point.
