Jack Draper returned to the tennis court with a bang last week, easily defeating his Norwegian opponent in Davis Cup qualifying.
Draper, who had missed the best part of seven months due to a left arm injury, defeated Viktor Durasovic 6-2, 6-2 to help Great Britain advance to the Davis Cup’s second qualifying round.
Following the event, Draper withdrew from the Rotterdam Open – a move that has left Steve Johnson ‘worried.’
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However, it appears Draper has withdrawn from the event as a cautionary measure. After his first match back, Draper expressed his desire to avoid back-to-back matches at this point in his recovery, while Leon Smith confirmed there was no injury issue.
Draper’s decision to exercise caution in this matter is most certainly the correct one.
Jack Draper has made the right move by withdrawing from Rotterdam
After competing at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, Draper took the brave decision to withdraw from all ATP events until the US Open; to allow himself to recover from a left arm injury.
His eventual return to action in New York ended up being a mistake, as he reaggravated the injury and withdrew from all remaining 2025 events.
Draper has not made the same mistake this time.
After such a long period on the sidelines, the British star must have caution at the forefront of his mind.
The ATP Tour is relentless and the Draper has not experienced it’s chaotic nature for the best part of seven months.
Athletes simply cannot – and should not – launch themselves back into full-blooded competition following a significant period on the sidelines. Doing so increases the risk of re-damaging a previously injured area.
When taking these factors into consideration, Draper has most certainly made the correct move by withdrawing from Rotterdam.
The British star must prioritise his health moving forward, or else he will put himself at risk of enduring another long spell on the sidelines. He has done exactly that and appears to have learned his lesson from the US Open.
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Great Britain’s only Rotterdam champion
Andy Murray remains the only British player in history to win the Rotterdam Open.
The former world number one won the tournament in 2009, defeating Ivan Ljubicic, Andreas Seppi, Marc Gicquel and Mario Ancic on his way to the final.
In the championships match, Murray defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
Murray sympathised with Nadal after the match. The Spaniard had suffered a knee injury and was unable to serve properly in the deciding set.
“Sorry to Rafa, I know he hurt his leg,” said Murray.
“It shows how good a player he is – he was still managing to beat me on one leg.”
He later added: “I’m happy with the week but not especially with the way that it ended.
“I can’t be disappointed with how I was playing. I knew something was wrong with Rafa as he took about 30kph off of his serve in the second set.
“But he was hitting so hard that it was rushing me. That was part of the reason for all of the breaks.
“I could see him shaking his head. But he’s not the kind of guy who’s going to stop chasing the ball unless there’s a good reason.
“He said that he sometimes has a knee problem when he plays a lot on hard court.”
Nadal, ever the gentleman, preferred to focus on Murray’s achievements rather than his own injury concerns.
“I had a problem with the injury but I don’t want to talk about that,” Nadal said. “Andy played very well today and he deserved to win the tournament.
“I am very happy with my performance this week. I came here without the best preparation after Australia, so it was a great result for me to get to the final here and I am very happy with that.”
“It’s tough when you can’t play to your level. The problem is something from this week, it’s tough to play like this, I couldn’t push off on my shots.
