Jack Draper’s knee injury forced him out of the Italian Open and French Open.
The 24-year-old didn’t complete a match on clay this year, retiring from his first-round match in Barcelona against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Do you see any way back for Jack Draper?
Another injury!
Suffering another setback, fans began to question when and where Draper would return.
Emma Raducanu’s former coach, Mark Petchey, has now shared what Draper told him about his comeback recently.
Mark Petchey says Jack Draper is ‘very confident’ he will be fit for the grass-court season
During the latest episode of ‘The Big T Podcast‘, Petchey said the following.
“He’s going to be back for the grass,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s super disappointing for all of us that he’s picked up this knee injury, on the back of the arm problem that he’s had.
“Just fingers crossed that he can come back, obviously the points are shorter on the grass than they would have been had he played here, and the five sets at Roland Garros.
“He seemed very confident about being back for the grass, so that’s good news from a point of view of having somebody in the mix, that we all feel can move well enough, and can hurt the big guys.”
Draper believes he will be back in time for the grass-court season, where he will be looking to challenge the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic.
“You’ve got to have that ammunition, those deep reservoirs of self-belief, to know he belongs in that kind of rarefied atmosphere,” said Petchey.
“Yes, he hasn’t done it yet, the same way that Sascha [Zverev] hasn’t, but there’s a sense that he is and was building.”
The Briton was arguably the third-best player in the world at points last year, beating Alcaraz en route to the Indian Wells title.
Unfortunately for Draper, his charge towards the top of the game was halted by a bone bruise issue in his serving arm.
Suffering a separate injury to his knee, it’s unclear how long it will take Draper to return to full fitness.
“He’s got a long way to come back; it’s not easy to come into those tournaments with such a scarcity of competitive tennis under your belt,” said Petchey.
“And grass is not the easiest surface to move on with a knee problem.”
Draper will be keen to return as soon as possible and put his injury issues behind him.
Jack Draper’s 2026 season so far
Returning from injury in February, Draper began his 2026 campaign in Norway for Great Britain’s Davis Cup qualifying tie.
Draper won his first match of the year comfortably and doubled his win tally in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships shortly after.
A second-round loss to Arthur Rinderknech followed, before Draper travelled to North America for the Sunshine Double Masters 1000 events.
Jack Draper’s 2026 results (5-4)
- Davis Cup Q [WIN] vs Viktor Durasovic, 6-2, 6-2
- Dubai Tennis Championships 1R [WIN] vs Quentin Halys, 7-6, 6-3
- Dubai Tennis Championships 2R [LOSS] vs Arthur Rinderknech, 5-7, 7-6, 4-6
- Indian Wells 2R [WIN] vs Roberto Bautista Agut, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Indian Wells 3R [WIN] vs Francisco Cerundolo, 6-1, 7-5
- Indian Wells 4R [WIN] vs Novak Djokovic, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6
- Indian Wells QF [LOSS] vs Daniil Medvedev, 1-6, 5-7
- Miami Open 2R [LOSS] vs Reilly Opelka, 6-7, 6-7
- Barcelona Open 1R [LOSS] vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-3, 3-6, 1-4 (RET)
Low on match practice, Draper made an impressive start to his Indian Wells title defence, defeating Francisco Cerundolo and 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic en route to the quarter-finals.
However, it was there that his run came to an end, losing to Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
Draper then lost to Reilly Opelka in Miami and Etcheverry in Barcelona.
A record of five wins and four losses has seen Draper drop to 72nd in the Live ATP Rankings.
Live ATP Rankings
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 68 | Valentin Royer | France | 773 |
| 69 | Juan Manuel Cerundolo | Argentina | 773 |
| 70 | Arthur Cazaux | France | 770 |
| 71 | Reilly Opelka | USA | 768 |
| 72 | Jack Draper | Great Britain | 760 |
| 73 | Kamil Majchrzak | Poland | 747 |
| 74 | Hubert Hurkacz | Poland | 740 |
| 75 | Jan Lennard Struff | Germany | 739 |
| 76 | Mattia Bellucci | Italy | 737 |
| 77 | Marco Trungelliti | Argentina | 731 |
He could yet drop out of the world’s top 100 when he loses the 200 points he earned from reaching the fourth round of the 2025 French Open.
Draper will certainly have work to do when he returns, but if he can rediscover the form he showed at the beginning of the 2025 season, surely it won’t be long before he’s back in the top 10.
The 2026 grass-court season begins on Monday, June 8, with tournaments in Germany and the Netherlands.
