“It’s pretty worrying”: Jack Draper warns on tennis injury crisis as he returns at Wimbledon
Returning to Wimbledon after a lengthy injury layoff, Jack Draper has issued a stark warning about the current state of men’s tennis. Citing his own struggles and those of other top players, the British No. 2 criticises the demanding schedule and calls for a re-evaluation of the tour’s calendar.
Jack Draper, Eastbourne 2026 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
Jack Draper has delivered a pointed warning about the state of the men’s game and the toll its schedule is taking on players, returning to Wimbledon from a seven-month injury absence that has cost him his place near the top of the rankings.
The British No. 2, who climbed into the world’s elite before a cascade of arm, knee and shoulder problems dropped him to around No. 160, opens against sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Tuesday.
He framed his own breakdown as part of a wider pattern. “It’s pretty worrying, the state of men’s tennis, especially right now,” he said, citing the injuries that have hit Lorenzo Musetti, Arthur Fils and Carlos Alcaraz. “When I look at the draws for the weeks when I was out, everything is shoulder, arm, wrist.”
Draper, who said his own arm injury had been bad luck while muscle and bone problems were “a load thing,” singled out the calendar. He pressed for a hard look at the expanded 12-day Masters 1000 events, and was candid that his fall had freed his tongue. “I was privy to those conversations when I was a top-10 player,” he said. “Now I’m not. Don’t care as much about what I say.”
Draper was an original signatory
His remarks carry weight as a player-welfare protest continues at the Championships; Draper was an original signatory to the players’ letter to the Grand Slams. He was careful, though, to credit the tournament. “Wimbledon have really done an amazing job this year to increase the prize money,” he said, adding that the slams were “improving every single year.”
The return has been as much mental as physical. “It’s taken a lot out of me mentally, coming back and coming back and coming back,” he said, describing a year spent watching his ranking slide “all the way down again to the start.” He has leaned on the support around him, including new coach Andy Murray, in his box for the grass season. “He’s one of my biggest inspirations,” Draper said.
The reward for surviving all that is the toughest possible opener. Draper and Fritz have met five times, always closely. “There’s obviously not many tougher draws you can get,” he said. “I believe I can win the match. But I need to play incredible tennis and compete really hard.”
