Jack Draper has returned to the ATP Tour after spending much of the 2025 season on the sidelines.
After an excellent start to the 2025 season, Draper suffered a left arm injury which kept him from competing for the best part of eight months.
After competing at the Davis Cup in February, Draper returned to the ATP Tour at the Dubai Tennis Championships, reaching the round of 16 before losing to Arthur Rinderknech.
Who is to blame for Jack Draper’s injury issues?
The 23-year-old is now in California looking to defend his Indian Wells title, which he won after defeating Holger Rune in last year’s final.
Ahead of his 2026 title defence, the British star has detailed his main focus moving forward.
Jack Draper’s ‘main priority’ is looking after his physical health
During his pre-tournament press conference, Draper was asked whether he is ‘physically ready’ to play a full tournament schedule.
“Yeah, I feel like I wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t be in the tournament if I didn’t feel like I could go all the way again,” said Draper.
“That was probably the primary reason I didn’t go out to Australia, just purely because if I’m going to enter a tournament, I’m going to be in the event, I want to feel like I can be physically ready to not just take part but to go all the way, because I believe in my tennis so much that when I get out there, I know that I can play some great stuff.”
It has been a tough year for the British superstar, but he has refused to wilt during this period; despite having had ‘lots of dark moments.’
Draper acknowledged his appreciation for being healthy again, before noting his main priority moving forward.
“At this point, truthfully, I’m just very grateful to be back on the court, to be back on the tour,” Draper continued.
“I’m feeling like I have improved a lot as a player over the last eight months, but I do recognize that I have been away from the game, and it is a bit of a step up in level to just come straight back to it after that amount of time out of the game.
Where will Jack Draper be ranked by the end of 2026?
“So let’s see what happens. I’m sort of not overthinking things too much.
“My main priority is looking after my body, making sure that when I’m able to hit the match court that I’m fully prepared for what’s to come, and I always believe in my tennis, so let’s see how far I can go.”
Draper is seeded 14th in Indian Wells and has received a bye through to the second round. There, he will face Fabian Marozsan or Roberto Bautista Agut before potentially meeting Francisco Cerúndolo in the third round.
From there, Draper could play Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 and Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.
Jack Draper’s potential Indian Wells draw…
- Round One: Bye
- Round Two: Fabian Marozsan / Roberto Bautista Agut
- Round Three: Francisco Cerundolo
- Round Four: Novak Djokovic / Corentin Moutet
- Quarter-finals: Taylor Fritz / Daniil Medvedev
- Semi-finals: Carlos Alcaraz / Alex de Minaur
- Final: Jannik Sinner / Alexander Zverev
Draper admits his injury ‘mistakes’
During the same press conference, one journalist asked a pertinent question.
“You have dealt with chronic injury for a while now,” the reporter said. “And a lot of other players who go through the same thing describe having sort of this heightened level of fear when they return to play, which can impact their game.
“Is that something that’s come up for you, and how do you deal with that?”
“I mean, I think maybe that’s a bit more so if they come back a bit too early potentially,” Draper replied.
“I know from some of the injuries I have had in the past I have made mistakes coming back too early, and I think when you do come back too early, you can lose a lot of trust in your body.
“I haven’t had the sort of injury where I have not been able to be on court at all. I have been able to practice, been able to still get the reps in over a long period of time.
“I just haven’t been able to get to the point where I’m able to play at the highest intensity I want and go back-to-back as I’ve wanted and as I want to do on the tour to make it again to be a top player.
“I don’t have any fear around my arm. I know that I’ve got great people around me. I’ve got good experience of it now, and so I just want to make sure that I’m doing all the right things to be able to just go week after week and stay on the tour.”
Jack Draper’s run to the 2025 Indian Wells title…
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Final | Holger Rune | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Semi-final | Carlos Alcaraz | 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 |
| Quarter-final | Ben Shelton | 6-4, 7-5 |
| Round of 16 | Taylor Fritz | 7-5, 6-4 |
| Round of 32 | Jenson Brooksby | 7-5, 6-4 |
| Round of 64 | Joao Fonseca | 6-4, 6-0 |
Draper’s Indian Wells campaign is crucial when considering he is defending 1000 ranking points at the event.
The British star won the biggest title of his career to date at the 2025 tournament, defeating Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune on his way to the title.
Draper will hope to produce the same form at this year’s event. However, with Carlos Alcaraz playing the best tennis of his career, defending the title will be a difficult task.
