Jack Draper pulls out of £1.3m British tournament as comeback delayed | Tennis | Sport
Jack Draper has been forced to withdraw from this week’s UTS London Grand Final in London, delaying his comeback from an ongoing arm injury. The British No. 1 was set to compete for a share of the £1,394,000 prize pot at the Copper Box Arena from December 5 to 7.
Draper previously won the tournament in 2023, beating Holger Rune in the final to pocket £430k – at the time, the biggest prize cheque of his career. The current world No. 10 has not played a match since the US Open after ending his season earlydue to an ongoing arm injury.
The Indian Wells champion was expected to make his return at the UTS Grand Final later this week, drawn in a group to face Casper Ruud, Francisco Cerundolo, and David Goffin for a spot in the semi-finals. But Draper has now pulled out, revealing that he isn’t ready to get back on the match court yet.
“I’ve been working hard to get ready for the UTS but frustratingly I’m just not quite ready. It’s a tough call as I want nothing more than to compete but I’ve been advised to take more time. Sorry to let down fans and miss out on the event,” the Brit said.
Draper is next expected to compete at the United Cup, starting on January 2. He will represent Great Britain along with Emma Raducanu, Billy Harris, Mimi Xu, Lloyd Glasspool, and Olivia Nicholls. Team GB have been drawn to face Greece and Japan in the group stage.
The 23-year-old enjoyed a heroic start to the 2025 season, reaching the Doha final before picking up his biggest career title in Indian Wells and beating the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz en route.
Draper also reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 and finished runner-up in Madrid. But he suffered an early second-round exit at Wimbledon and was sidelined for the next seven weeks due to an arm injury.
After making a premature comeback at the US Open, where he won his opening match, the British No. 1 pulled out ahead of the second round and later shut down his season entirely. Draper has since split with his coach, James Trotman, who is taking a step back to spend more time with his family, and has hired Jamie Delgado, Andy Murray’s former mentor.
Ugo Humbert will replace Draper at the UTS Grand Final. Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, Tomas Machac and Adrian Mannarino have also signed up for the tournament, which is the brainchild of French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
At UTS, players compete to win the most points in four, eight-minute-long quarters with a sudden-death point. There is also only one first serve, and players can use bonus cards to boost their points.
