"I’m in a position where I’m having to start again" - Jack Draper candid on emotional Canadian Open exit

Jack Draper is still attempting to find his feet once more in tennis after continuing to be hampered by setback after setback following his arm injury suffered over a year ago. This all became too much for him in his Canadian Open first round defeat as he was pictured crying on court in a devastating sight that was a cause for concern.

He would lose to Terence Atmane in his first match since reaching the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Open. The former World No.4 was forced to skip Wimbledon following improved signs under mentor Andy Murray.

However, whatever he tries it seems to put him back to square one. Having only played in six tournaments this year, he is yet to find any sorts of consistency on court which is due to his health and body failing him.

Speaking to the Guardian ahead of the Cincinnati Open, he candidly opened up about his struggles. “I don’t get emotional often,” he said. “There was once I got emotional in practice in May when I had really bad knee tendinitis and my arm was really sore as well. I was in so much pain. I was running and my knee [hurt] and my hitting the balls and my arm was sore.

Draper's rise to becoming one of the best players in the world was not something that occurred overnight. Progression and potential was visible, highlighted by his run to the US Open semi-finals in 2024. He backed it up in 2025 with a maiden Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells whilst also reaching the final of the Madrid Open.

He was touted to compete with the top two of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the near future, but injuries have prevented that tantalising reality from occurring. From the heights he once sat at, he is now ranked 143rd in the world and is now the British number six. Frustrated not to be at that level, all of this annoyance was released in that final set of his Canadian Open.

“Last week came from a place of, I think I had so much to focus on and manage, so much change going on in my tennis," he recalled. "I got to [No]4 in the world through doing the same things, the consistent work, the differences, and then went through this whole process of a lot of setbacks and a lot of struggle.

“That’s taken a lot out of me. But then at the same time, I’m in a position where I’m having to start again. That reality is difficult sometimes."

The shadow of himself on court bugs him deeply, knowing there is better in the tank but unbaling to unlock it. “The reason I got emotional was that through all the challenges, you can forget who you are on the court. And last week I felt like I couldn’t give any more. I was emotional because I didn’t recognise the player I was out on the court due to my injuries and due to probably the way I’ve been feeling for a long time.

“When you reach rock bottom like that you can come back up again. Since then I’ve practised really well, I’ve had amazing support from the people around me and you get to a point more and more of acceptance. We’ve definitely reached that acceptance phase now.”

Describing himself as a winner, that is exactly what Draper is. All tennis players want to step onto court and leave as the victor, but for Draper in this current moment in time it is different.

“After this long period, my shift has gone away from performance,” he continued. “I’m changing my string. I desperately don’t want to. I desperately know it’s hopefully not something that I’m going to have to do moving forwards, but it’s something I have to do for the nature of my injury. Same with the racket."

While not an easy decision, it is one that the 24-year-old feels he needs to make. “It’s a difficult one because I’m a winner. I’m out there, I want to perform. But I have to accept reality, which is that I have to find a way in very uncomfortable circumstances right now. But if that can get me to the end of the year where I’m feeling really good again and my body’s in a great place and my mind’s in a great place, then that’s only going to help me to move completely past this injury. But there is a way out and I’m seeing that on a day-to-day basis.”

Entirely reliant on wildcards and qualifying for events, Draper is once again relishing the challenge of getting back up to his prior astronomical levels. “At the very start of my injury, if I was to say to myself: ‘Right, I’m four in the world now, what’s the worst outcome?’ It would probably be where I’ve got to,” he stated. “But there’s a certain peace in that and acceptance because I have to start again. And what a challenge.”

This process continues in Cincinnati. In just his fourth Masters 1000 tournament this year, all of them have been on North America thanks to the nature of when his injuries have come. Draper reached the quarter-final in his first and only appearance in 2024. He will take on martin Landaluce in his opening test with a third round re-match against Novak Djokovic on the cards in the third round.