Jack Draper confirms comeback tournament ahead of Wimbledon | Tennis | Sport
Jack Draper will compete at Eastbourne as he prepares for a run at Wimbledon with Sir Andy Murray in his corner. The former World No. 4 will be looking to climb back up the rankings with a strong showing at SW19.
Eastbourne will be Draper’s first competitive tournament since his loss to Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open. He was forced to retire against the Argentine after hurting himself while the score was 6-3, 3-6, 1-4.
Withdrawals mean that Draper has been included as an emergency substitute.
After his injury, which forced him to miss the French Open, he pledged to work hard to get back to fitness in a post on Instagram, saying: “Sad to retire in Barcelona. I’ve tried hard these last months to stay positive and give my all. It will take time, but I will work my way out of this. Thank you for all the support throughout this process.”
As part of his recovery, he has also been doing work with Sir Andy as he prepares for Wimbledon. Draper managed to convince Murray to come out of retirement to assist his training and preparations.
The injuries have been frustrating and hurtful to Draper but, if Murray’s recent comments are anything to go by, Draper has the arsenal to offer a strong showing at Wimbledon.
At Queens, Murray recently told reporters: “He’s been training and getting ready for that. He’s been on the court most days for the last few weeks. His tennis is b***** good. He’s really good. Obviously he’s had lots of issues the last year with various injuries, and I feel like he’s starting to come out the other side of that now.
“The next step is obviously getting on the match court and getting a consistent run of tournaments and weeks under him and building trust again in his body. But from a tennis perspective, from what I’ve seen on the practice court, I’ve got no concerns there.
“He’s a lot better than what I thought, and I thought he was bloody good before I started helping him. He’s a quick learner. He’s got very few holes in his game. He’s a more complete player than probably what I expected as well.”
