Jack Draper has pulled out of the HSBC Championships at Queen's Club and says he is now targeting a return at Eastbourne, a late switch that leaves his grasscourt schedule on a tight clock before Wimbledon. The 24-year-old said his recovery is moving in the right direction, but he wants one more week before stepping back into competition.
That is why his name is being searched now. Eastbourne finishes two days before Wimbledon starts, so the event Draper has picked as his comeback may offer only a brief test before the season's biggest stage begins. For a former British No 1 and former world No 4, the timing matters as much as the withdrawal itself.
Draper has not played since mid-April, and his return from an eight-month arm injury has already been interrupted by a succession of withdrawals. He missed the Monte-Carlo Masters and Madrid Open, and his hopes of featuring at the French Open last month ended because of a knee injury. The Queen's Club withdrawal is the latest sign that the comeback is still moving, but not yet cleanly.
He made no attempt to dress it up. “Very hard to miss one of my favourite events of the year,” Draper said, after confirming that he would give himself another week and aim to return at Eastbourne. The schedule leaves him with a narrow window to prove his body can handle grasscourt tennis before Wimbledon begins.
There is also a new layer around the comeback. Draper recently added Andy Murray to his grasscourt coaching set-up, and the move has sharpened attention on what comes next. Murray's experience at Queen's Club and Wimbledon brings obvious value, but it also means the first match back will be watched closely, with little room for a slow start.
Laura Robson, who knows the pressure that follows a player back onto the tour, said the attention around Draper's return will only grow once he walks out again. She said it has been a tough year of injuries and that the expectation to play well adds another layer, even if Murray's presence is beneficial. For Draper, the question is no longer whether he wants to be back for Eastbourne. It is whether he can get there fit enough to make it count, and still have anything left for Wimbledon two days later.
