Injury plague to follow Draper into 2026

injury victim Jack Draper will miss the start of the 2026 season, with the unlucky Brit pulling out of next month;’s Australia summer of tennis.

They decision by the player who last competed in August and who has struggled with a continuing shoulder problem wrecks the British lineup for the United Cup in Perth which begins next Friday.

Draper was to have teamed up with Emma Raducanu at the mixed team event.

The ATP No. 10 also withdrew from the Australian Open.

Draper posted a video on social media:  “Hello everybody, instead of writing out a message, I thought I’d send a little video recording to let you know of my progress. 

“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.”

Only this week, Draper told local UK fans at a meet-and-greet that he was ready to travel to Oz for the start of the 2026 season.

His media post continued: “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.”