“It just doesn’t seem like a smart decision”: Jack Draper withdraws from Australian Open after injury setback

The world No. 10 Jack Draper will miss the Australian Open 2026, following a recurrence of his left arm injury. The British No. 1 remains complicated by the same injury that has kept him out practically since Wimbledon 2025 six months ago.

Draper has constantly faced injuries since the beginning of his career, but his great close to the year in 2024 and the first part of 2025 – where he had found regularity on the Tour and added win after win – made it seem like injuries were a problem of the past.

However, things changed for the player who turned 24 a few days ago. Draper faced injuries during the grass-swing, after alleging an injury following his second-round defeat at Wimbledon against Marin Cilic. Draper arrived as the 4th seed and one of the candidates, but ended up out early and away from high-level competition for a couple of months.

The Brit rushed his return for the US Open, but was not yet in full physical shape. After overcoming the first round against Federico Gomez, Draper did not show up for the second-round match against Zizou Bergs and ended up withdrawing from the tournament, also ending his season after announcing he would not travel to the Asian swing.

Draper, however, had confirmed exhibitions at the end of the year: he was supposed to participate in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final in London, but withdrew from the tournament at the last minute. A similar thing happened with the Macau Tennis Masters being played these days, as Draper had to withdraw from the tournament – although he gave reassurance that he would be ready to compete at the Aussie Open.

However, new news arrives that Draper will not be ready to compete and has opted to withdraw from the first major of the year. Draper's return was expected within a week at the United Cup – where he would join Emma Raducanu to compete against Greece and Japan in Group E in Perth. However, the British will have to put in a replacement to partner with Raducanu.

The former world No. 4 left a message on social media explaining his withdrawal from the tournament, recognizing that he is not ready for 5-set matches, and that he will continue postponing his return to the courts. "Hello everybody, instead of writing out a message, I thought I'd send a little video recording to let you know of my progress,” he said. “Unfortunately me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year.”

“It's a really, really tough decision with Australia being a Grand Slam and one of the biggest tournaments in our sport. However I've had this injury for a long time. I'm at the very, very end stages of the process. To step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn't seem like a smart decision for me and my tennis."

"I've obviously been through a fair amount of setbacks so far but by far and away, this one has been the most difficult, the most challenging and the most complex one that I've had. It's weird, it always seems to make me more resilient, to make me hungrier to become the player I want to become even more.

"I'm looking forward to getting back out there in 2026 and competing. I just want to thank everyone for all the support in 2025. It means the world to me to be competing and to be playing out there on the tour with the other guys. I'm looking forward to doing that again. Take care everyone and thank you for the support."

Draper – currently world No. 10 – reached the 4th round in 2025 – falling to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. By not being able to defend the points, Draper will drop out of the top-10 rankings after a year, and it remains to be seen when his return to the courts will be.