Jack Draper believes the pressure he put on himself trying to catch Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner contributed to the arm injury that ruined his 2025 season.
British number one Draper played his first match in five months on Wednesday, beating Viktor Durasovic 6-2, 6-2 to help Britain win the Davis Cup against Norway in Oslo.
The 24-year-old rose to world No. 4 last June, but has since had to twiddle his thumbs as his peers Alcaraz and Sinner maintain their dominance in men’s tennis.
But Draper feels he has an even better player coming back and will soon be ready to take on Spain and Italy at the top.
“That was my goal anyway, and that might be part of the reason why my body broke down,” Draper told the Press Association.
“Maybe it was stressful for me because I was trying so hard to play the right way, to hit the ball harder, to get free points in a lot of ways.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself, both mentally and physically. I’ve done a lot of things that I think have gotten me to a really good place.
“Certainly they’re leading the sport at the moment and I’m really hungry to get to where they are, so I’m going to do everything to do that.”
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Draper reflected on his performance upon returning to the court.
Draper was diagnosed with a “complicated” bone bruise on his left arm after losing to Marin Cilic in the second round at Wimbledon.
“I don’t want any tennis player to go through something like this with their playing skills,” he added.
“But at the same time, I’ve learned a lot through this period, not only personally, but also from a career standpoint. It will definitely help me move forward and become a better player.”
“And I believe I’m a better player than I was in the summer when I won a lot and played great.
“I think you can only get to that point by having the right mindset and looking at this injury and this layoff as an opportunity to get better. And I feel like I accomplished that.”
Draper misses Rotterdam Open as he waits to return to ATP Tour
Draper’s first singles tournament since September’s US Open, where she withdrew in the first round, was scheduled to be held in Rotterdam next week, but she was unable to do so.
“It’s disappointing not to be back in the field, but overall we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.
The victory over Durasovic was Draper’s only game for GB against Norway, but coach Leon Smith says that was always the plan.
Asked if Draper was injured, Smith said, “No, he was pretty much on schedule (to play just once).
“Maybe he doesn’t come down and say, ‘Hey, that was a really quick game,’ but it’s still his first game in five months.
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Draper talks about taking time off from tennis due to injury
“So unless he came knocking on my door and said, ‘No, no, here we go, I want to go again,’ the smart thing for him and his medical team to do was to say, ‘Let’s bank on this fight, get some recovery and go from there.’ That was the right thing to do.”
Leading 2-0 overnight, Wimbledon champions Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash overcame a mid-match upset to beat Durasovic and Budkov Kjaer 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in Friday’s doubles match to give Britain a solid 3-0 lead.
British number three Jacob Fearnley scored a run out on the dead rubber and came back from a set down to beat Budkov Kjaer 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.
Britain’s 4-0 victory means they will advance to the second qualifying round, where they will face either Australia or Ecuador later this year, with a chance to advance to November’s final.
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