Jack Draper made a victorious return to the ATP Tour after 182 days, defeating Frenchman Quentin Halys 7-6, 6-3 at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The British No.1 was competing in his first tour-level match since August 25 last year, having withdrawn from the 2025 US Open in the second round due to an arm injury.
Speaking to Sky Sports immediately after the match, the 24-year-old Londoner accidentally swore live on air. Sporting a new buzz cut, world No.15 Draper declared he had been doing a “s*** load” of serves in practice during his six months out of action. He was ranked fourth in the world before his latest injury curtailed his progress.
Talking about his recovery, Draper explained that he had been working on improving his serve with a new service action. He noted that a pec injury in 2023 and bone stress more recently had forced him to change his approach, and he had hit more serves than ever before to get his arm back to full strength.
The defending Indian Wells Masters champion expressed pride in his performance, saying it felt “normal” to be back competing and that he had been craving the adrenaline of winning and losing points. He acknowledged the difficulties of the past eight months and thanked the many people who had helped him return.
Draper will now face the winner of Fabian Marozsan’s match against Arthur Rinderknech in the round of 16 on Wednesday.
