Jack Draper has announced he will miss next month's Australian Open after admitting he is not quite ready for a return to top-level competition.
According to Sky News, the British No 1 has played just one match since Wimbledon, with bone bruising in his left arm curtailing his 2025 season, and he is set to be on the sidelines for a little while longer.
Draper, ranked 10th in the world, said in a video on X on Boxing Day, "Unfortunately, me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year. It's a really, really tough decision, obviously (with) Australia being a Grand Slam, it's 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 and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn't seem like a smart decision right now for me and my tennis,” he added.
Though Draper has struggled with the arm injury for some time now, the video update caused surprise as it came two days after he was filmed telling fans he would play in Australia.
The Brit expressed, "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.”
The 24-year-old has been dogged by serious injury before, missing six months of the 2023 season due to a shoulder injury which required several operations.
Draper has managed his schedule more carefully since, reaching the US Open semi-finals in 2024 and claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title earlier this year in March at Indian Wells.
