“I’ll be playing in Australia" - Jack Draper crushes any injuries concerns as he announces return to tennis

Jack Draper has offered a significant hint that he will be playing in the Australian Open after concerns over his arm injury still swirl above his head.

The British number one had cemented himself as one of the best players in the world after a fabulous start to 2025. One of the highlights was winning the Indian Wells Open. He defeated Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in a terrific semi-final clash before overcoming Holger Rune to clinch his first Masters 1000 triumph. He almost added to this tally in the Madrid Open, but was gotten better of by Casper Ruud.

Ahead of Wimbledon, he reached a career-high of world number four in an astonishing feat. He was destined to continue his progress up the ladder, challenging for more titles and possibly giving Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner something to think of.

However, this would not plan out with the 24-year-old suffering an arm injury at SW19 in a second-round defeat to former US Open champion Marin Cilic. He sat out the upcoming Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open as he looked to rest his bruised humerus ahead of his return to Flushing Meadows. He made the semi-finals in 2024 before going down to the eventual champion Sinner. He was hoping for a similar result but was forced to withdraw when the pain became too potent. He would announce that his 2025 campaign was over and full focus was on a return in 2026.

Draper was in line to compete in a number of exhibition events, which included the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final and the Macau Tennis Masters. He has since pulled out of both of these events. That has caused fans to worry, with there a possibility that the current world number 10 would not feature Down Under.

Nevertheless, Draper crushed these rumours. In a video posted by Courtside with CP, Draper was posed this question by a fan, in which he replied: “I’ll be playing in Australia, yeah.” It was met with a huge applause from the onlooking spectators, glad to hear the positive news.

“I’ll be playing [in] Australia, yeah. It’s not been the easiest time for me because I was coming up, I was feeling like I was in a really good place right at the top, and then something like this happens and I guess you either stand still and let it get the best of you or you keep on going," he continued.

“And I think, yeah, that’s just a constant wheel, that’s just a constant wave. You know, you’re successful then you’re going to struggle and then you get successful again. But you have to keep at it mentally, so I feel like I’ve done that pretty well.”

The Australian Open is not the only thing on Draper's mind. He will be making his debut in the United Cup, representing his country alongside Emma Raducanu who is also making her debut. The duo are set to lead a formidable team into Australia as they look to start the year with a bang. Naomi Osaka's Japan and Stefanos Tsitsipas' Greece are their opponents in the group as they target entry into the knockout format.

The event will commence from January 2-11, with the Australian Open starting a week later. Draper's results in Melbourne have been underwhelming. He made his debut in 2023 and was instantly knocked out by 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, although he did take a set off the great Spaniard. A year later he went one better, defeating Marcos Giron in five sets before succumbing to Tommy Paul. Last year saw his best result in the major event by far. He got past Mariano Navone, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic all in five sets before retiring when two sets down against Alcaraz. He will be hoping for a deep run on his highly anticipated return to the court. The Australian Open will take place from January 18 - February 1.