Jack Draper has admitted that he struggled “watching your decline” as he opened up on his year of injury hell.
The Briton, who has fallen to world No160 in the ATP rankings at the time of publication, is preparing to make yet another comeback to the tour after over 12 months of continued setbacks.
He first struggled with an arm injury picked up at the Madrid Masters last year but played through the pain barrier at Wimbledon and the US Open before curtailing his season prematurely ahead of his second-round encounter with Zizou Bergs at Flushing Meadows.
That, as well as a long-running case of tendonitis in his knee, has seen him try to return to the top table several times before suffering more disappointments.
The latest of those came at the Barcelona Open in April, where Draper, the eighth seed, was forced to hand Tomas Etcheverry a first-round walkover.
He had a brief revival at Indian Wells - where he won his first ever Masters 1000 title in 2025 - in March this year, stunning Novak Djokovic on his run to the quarter-finals, where he eventually fell to Daniil Medvedev.
Now, with a week to go before Wimbledon, Draper, under the tutelage of new coach Sir Andy Murray, feels that the Eastbourne Open is the perfect time to test his fitness, which he felt was not quite good enough to compete at Queen’s Club.
“It's been an incredibly difficult year,” Draper told reporters ahead of his opening match against fifth seed Brandon Nakashima.
“I'm someone who's all-in with my tennis. I'm obsessed with improving and being the best in the world and doing all the right things.
“Outside of tennis, there is not a lot going on for me. It's obviously been very isolated; a lot of tough days. All you want to do is feel the buzz of being out there competing and all those sort of things. I've had to be incredibly patient with my body.
“Last year, I thought I was mentally tough, and then going for a year where you have to do the same stuff over and over, deal with the pain, the injuries I have had, and come through those, being a sport where it kicks you when you're down, having to almost start again with my ranking and with everything, it's an incredible opportunity to come back.”
Draper recalls playing through niggles and illness - like the bout of tonsillitis which impeded his run to the last-four at Queen’s last year - but his ongoing issues have meant that he just could not push through the pain this time.
“You know what tonsillitis is like, you’re barely getting out of bed,” he explained.
“I was reflecting this year, thinking, ‘Wow, that was a good week, considering.’ I was playing through this arm thing for a little bit last year, and really trying to come back with it.
“It gets to a certain point where you have to play through it. You have to build up your load and I think these injuries are so complicated.
“I was top 10 in the world, doing great things, and you’re losing your ranking every week. It’s not like a football team where you can have a substitute come in and take your place. It’s like you’re kind of watching your decline. I have learned a massive amount about my body in the last year and my recovery.”
Draper faces world No31 Nakashima in the first round on the Sussex coast on Monday - a dangerous opponent who is bound to give the British No3 some issues with Murray watching on courtside.
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