Jack Draper injury shake-up: Good news for Stefanos Tsitsipas?

World No. 10 Jack Draper confirmed this Friday that he will not present himself at the Australian Open following a relapse in his left arm injury that has been complicating him since mid-2025. The British No. 1 will miss the Australian swing – where he was committed to dispute the United Cup and the Australian Open.

Draper's departure from the first major of the year leaves a seeded spot open within the tournament. With this – momentarily – Stefanos Tsitsipas would be the main beneficiary, remaining as the 32nd seed on the tournament entry list.

And it is that the Greek, currently world No. 34, had everything indicating that he would dispute the first major of the year without being seeded, after 29 consecutive Grand Slam draws situated as a seed – including 20 of them inside the top 10 seeds. Without a position among the seeds, he was exposed to facing any player in the draw – including top players like Alcaraz, Sinner or Djokovic, from the first round.

Added to the withdrawal of world No. 10 Draper is the confirmed absence from months ago of Holger Rune – current world No. 15, who is recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that will have him out of competition during a good part of the season, with a potential return date still to be confirmed.

In this way, in addition to the players inside the top 32 of the ATP Ranking, there will be two other seeded spots to be occupied, which for the moment would be for the American Brandon Nakashima (No. 33) and the Greek former world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 34).

The seeded positions are awarded to the best players in the ranking and allow them a better sort in the draw – meaning that the seeds are guaranteed not to face any other seed during the first two rounds. In theory, this would allow Tsitsipas to dispute the first two rounds against tennis players of lower ranking than him.

At the moment Tsitsipas would be the 32nd seed although it will have to be confirmed after the first week of competition, since the ranking of the players once the season has started will be considered for the draw. The Greek will be at the United Cup, where he will be able to add some points before starting the first major of the year and confirm his spot as a seed.

Tsitsipas defends 45 points during the United Cup, after achieving a triumph in the Round Robin of 2025 against Pablo Carreño Busta - who presented himself with a protected ranking of No. 18. Let us remember that in the team tournament, players add points based on the ranking of the rival they defeated and the round in which they achieved it.

Tsitsipas defeated Carreño Busta in three sets - reporting 45 points - while he lost in his second match against Alexander Shevchenko.

Anyway, once the points from the first week of competition are deducted, the Greek would momentarily remain as world No. 34, and discounting the presence of Rune and Draper in Australia, he would take the 32nd seeded position for the first major of the year.

He will also have another indirect benefit: Greece and Great Britain were drawn in the same group of the United Cup, so there will not be a duel between Tsitsipas and Draper, and everything indicates that the Brit will be replaced as first singles player by Billy Harris - who was noted as alternate for Draper in case of injury.

In this way, the assured duels for Tsitsipas in Group E of the United Cup will be against Shintaro Mochizuki (No. 100) of Japan and Harris (No. 126) of Great Britain – two rivals against whom Tsitsipas is favorite, at least regarding ranking, and that can mean adding some points that end up securing his place as a seed at the Australian Open.