Jack Draper: British No 1 announces he will miss Australian Open Grand Slam due to arm injury recovery | Tennis News

Jack Draper has announced he will miss next month’s Australian Open after admitting he is not quite ready for a return to top-level competition.

The British No 1 has played just one match since Wimbledon, with bone bruising in his left arm curtailing his 2025 season, and he is set to be on the sidelines for a little while longer.

Draper, ranked 10th in the world, said in a video on X on Boxing Day: “Unfortunately, me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year.

“It’s a really, really tough decision, obviously (with) Australia being a Grand Slam, it’s 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 and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like a smart decision right now 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.”

Though Draper has struggled with the arm injury for some time now, the video update caused surprise as it came two days after he was filmed telling fans he would play in Australia.

The 24-year-old has been dogged by serious injury before, missing six months of the 2023 season due to a shoulder injury which required several operations.

Draper has managed his schedule more carefully since, reaching the US Open semi-finals in 2024 and claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title earlier this year in March at Indian Wells.

The Brit reached a career-high world ranking of No 4 in June, but injury cut short his season as he withdrew after the first round of the US Open and missed the ATP Tour Finals in Turin.

Draper had been pencilled in to return at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final in London earlier this month but he followed advice to take more time in his recovery.

In skipping the season’s first Grand Slam, which starts on January 18 in Melbourne, Draper is now likely to target a comeback in February before the defence of his Indian Wells title at the beginning of March.

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