Should Jack Draper have competed at Eastbourne? Decision questioned amid another injury blow: "It would have been preferable for him, in hindsight, to maybe not play that tournament"

Jack Draper has again suffered another huge injury blow. Following a run to the semi-final of the Eastbourne Open, he has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon. His campaign in Eastbourne has been questioned by Eugenie Bouchard and Tim Henman.

It has been very stop-start in recent times for Draper who continues to get held back by different problems. This time last year, he was world number five heading into Wimbledon and flying at the top of the sport.

Injuries have seen him plummet down the order. Starting with an arm injury created by a bruised humerus saw him off the ATP Tour until the end of February. His return peaked with a quarter-final run to Indian Wells following a win over 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

He missed another couple of tournaments before beginning his clay swing at the Barcelona Open. He was unable to complete the first match on court, picking up a frustrating knee injury that kept him out of the rest of the clay swing. He skipped Queen's, prioritising a run in Eastbourne, hoping for match fitness and sharpness as his body again gets used to competitive action. With Andy Murray by his side, the signs were looking promising.

He defeated Marcos Giron, Jack Pinnington Jones and Gabriel Diallo in straight sets before losing in the semi-final to Ugo Humbert. On paper, it was good preparation as he looked set to traverse straight to Wimbledon in front of his home fans.

Unfortunately, that dream and ambition has gone up in smoke. He was set to compete in the first round against Taylor Fritz in a highly anticipated matchup, but he has since pulled out due to his arm.

Draper needs matches to get back to full fitness, but again and again an attempted comeback is cut short. He will hope that he can return in for the North American hardcourt swing with a couple of Masters 1000 tournaments ahead of the US Open set to be played out.

For the time being, there is more frustration in British tennis. His decision to compete in Eastbourne has been looked on as a possible mistake by former finalist Bouchard. She spoke on BBC about her perspective on the situation.

“Playing all those matches in Eastbourne, it would have been preferable for him, in hindsight, to maybe not play that tournament or pull out at some point when he was feeling the arm, to be able to play at Wimbledon. That’s the bigger event. He wants to be playing this one.”

Former British number one Henman also highlighted a hugely important point when it comes to Grand Slam events that could hinder Draper. “I think the hard thing is that when you then talk about Grand Slam tennis for the men, it is best of five sets. So if you haven’t really played any tennis coming in, then to say ‘oh ok, I’m going to test it out over five sets’ is so difficult."

So far, Wimbledon 2026 has showcased the troubles that British tennis is encountering. The two top talents, Emma Raducanu and Draper, both withdrew ahead of their first round matches with injury while Sonay Kartal still remains sidelined. Cameron Norrie was dumped out against Michael Zheng following a fifth-set tiebreak. From a British point of view, it is a hugely frustrating watch with limited Brits left in the draw. Draper will hope to get back to the heights he was previously at, dragging his country back into the spotlight in tennis.