Jack Draper believes the pressure he put himself under trying to catch Carlos
Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner contributed to the arm injury that ruined his
2025 season.British No 1 Draper played his first match in five months on Wednesday, beating Viktor Durasovic 6-2 6-2 to help Great Britain to a Davis Cup victory over Norway in Oslo.
The 24-year-old climbed to world No 4 last June but has since had to twiddle his thumbs while contemporaries Alcaraz and Sinner continue their domination of men’s tennis.
But Draper feels he is returning an even better player and will soon be ready to challenge the Spanish/Italian duopoly at the top of the game.”That was my goal anyway and potentially that’s part of the reason why my body did break down,” Draper told the Press Association.
“Maybe I was trying so hard to play in the right way, to hit the ball harder, to get free points in many ways and that just maybe was a stress for me.
“I’ve learnt a lot about myself mentally, physically. I’ve done a lot of things that I think have really put me in a good place.
“For sure those guys are leading the sport at the moment and I’m really hungry to get to where they are, so I’m going to do everything to do that.”
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Draper reflected on his performance in his return to the court
Draper was diagnosed with a “complex” bone bruising injury in his left arm after a second-round defeat by Marin Cilic at Wimbledon.”I wouldn’t want any tennis player to go through this with their playing arm,” he added.”But at the same time, I have learned many things through this period, not only personally, but from a career perspective as well, that are definitely going to help me move forward and be a better player.”And I do believe I’m a better player than I was in the summer, when I was winning lots and playing great.”I think that you can only get to that point with the right mindset and seeing this injury and this lay-off as an opportunity to get better, and I feel I’ve done that.”Draper withdraws from Rotterdam Open as ATP Tour return waits
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2026-02-06 20:50:00
