Jack Draper will play a tournament before Wimbledon as he prepares for a run at SW19 with Sir Andy Murray in his corner. The former World No. 4 will compete at Eastbourne, which begins tomorrow, marking his first competitive event since retiring injured at the Barcelona Open.
Draper's Injury Struggles
Currently ranked No. 27 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Draper has had a year disrupted by knee and elbow issues. He was forced to retire against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Barcelona after hurting himself while the score was 6-3, 3-6, 1-4. That injury also caused him to miss the French Open.
After his injury, Draper posted on Instagram: "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."
Working with Andy Murray
As part of his recovery, Draper convinced Murray to come out of retirement to assist his training and preparations. Murray recently praised Draper's abilities, saying: "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."
Murray added: "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."
Murray continued: "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."
Draper will look to make a strong showing at Eastbourne before aiming for a deep run at Wimbledon, which would help him climb back up the rankings.
