Jack Draper confirms schedule in new injury update as he returns at Barcelona Open | Tennis | Sport

Jack Draper will begin his clay season at the Barcelona Open after pulling out of this week’s Monte Carlo Masters. And the British No. 2 has confirmed that his recent withdrawal had nothing to do with his arm injury, as he continues his comeback from a six-month layoff.

Draper did not play a match between last year’s US Open and Britain’s Davis Cup qualifier tie in February of this year, as bone bruising in his left humerus wrecked his 2025 season. He’s since tried to manage his schedule, competing in Dubai, Indian Wells, and Miami. It was a mixed ‘Sunshine Double’ for the world No. 25, who stunned Novak Djokovic on his way to the Indian Wells quarter-finals, but lost his opening match in Miami. Draper then skipped the Monte Carlo Masters, delaying the start of his clay season, and opting for a week of training instead.

Arriving in Barcelona, Draper told ATP Media: “Hard decision, Monte Carlo is definitely one of the tournaments the last couple of years I’ve really enjoyed being at and playing. Beautiful event. But on the same sense, I think I’ve been off the tour for so long, that after the trip to the States that I did, it definitely gave me some lessons on what I need to improve.

“I think, with the injury I’ve had, I’ve not really been able to train properly and really work on my game. I’ve kind of been in survival mode a little bit to get back on the match court and back on the tour. So I knew I needed a couple of weeks to really put in some work and earn the right to hopefully rise up the rankings again.

“That decision was purely about the tennis. There’s no doubt that the injury I had with my arm, I’m still having to manage it and understand it, and definitely do all of the right things for my body. But I’m going in the right direction with everything. It’s a slow process, but I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”

British No. 2 is making his debut at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona next week, and hopes to continue playing on the tour as normal from here on out. “That’s very much the plan. The plan is to play Madrid, Rome, French, and go full schedule as much as I can,” he said.

“I think I’ve got enough training, enough miles in the tank to do that now. I don’t know how my results are going to be, but I’m enjoying being back out on the tour, and I’m looking forward to getting my momentum back.”

Draper had a strong clay season in 2025, finishing runner-up at the Madrid Open, reaching the Italian Open quarter-finals, and getting to the second week of the French Open. And he believes the surface will only help him as he tries to find some rhythm on the match court.

The former world No. 4 continued: “I think it was difficult when I was away on the hard courts, definitely in Dubai and in Miami, I was kind of really hoping to get some rhythm, and I played some big servers and I wasn’t really able to maybe get the time on the court that I wanted to and the rhythm when I was playing, which was what I needed. So to be on the clay, it’s a bit more time on the ball. Definitely, the lessons I learned from last year about how I can be effective on the clay, I think, physically and for all parts of where I’m at right now, it’s a good thing.”

While the arm injury didn’t influence Draper’s decision to pull out of the Monte Carlo Masters, the Brit is also learning to manage the issue – and his expectations. “Look, expectations are always really high for myself. I want to be going deep in every tournament I go to,” he added.

“There’s definitely a big part of me that wants that, there’s also another part of me that knows that I’m still not quite where I want to be, from a body perspective and just from a matches and playing on the tour point of view. So I’ve also had to make many changes with my rackets and doing all types of things to help with my arm.

“When I say rackets, I mean more [with the] string, but there’s been a lot of things I’m managing away from the match court, but I definitely feel ike I’m in a position now to be pushing in the draws, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how I get on.”

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page