Jack Draper faces a race against time to be in top physical shape for the Australian Open next month after suffering a hip injury during his pre-season training.
Having already cancelled plans to travel to Villena, Spain for an intense pre-season training block with Carlos Alcaraz due to his hip, last week Draper withdrew from the United Cup, his first scheduled event of 2024, and opted out of the Davis Cup tie slated for the weekend after the Australian Open in Tokyo.
Draper said he is “very positive” about competing at the first grand slam tournament of the year, but he will evidently have to continue monitoring and strengthening his hip before and after the event.
“It’s obviously very disappointing that I can’t go out [to Spain],” said Draper, who turned 23 on Sunday. “But that’s the thing in sports, sometimes you have these disappointments, you have these little challenges and little setbacks that come your way, and you have to think about how you are gonna make the most of that. In my mind, I’m thinking that I always have to try and have a positive outlook on things.”
A significant factor in the British No 1’s rise this year has been the excellent fitness and health he maintained throughout the season after an injury-riddled start to his career. The final weeks of 2024, however, have been a reminder that progress is not always a straight line.
“For me at this stage of my career, what’s most important is that I can have a long career,” he said. “There’s many young athletes who I’ve seen over the years, and I’ve heard stories about, who have these little niggles at a younger age. They don’t do much about it, they don’t explore it, and then it becomes a big problem when they get older.
“If they’d have managed that area better – a specific area, like the hip, like a knee or an ankle – then it would have saved a lot of time off [for] a lot of different things. So that’s where I’m at right now.”
The new season will begin this Friday at the United Cup and one of the biggest storylines over the coming weeks will be Novak Djokovic’s new coaching partnership with his former rival Andy Murray. Draper, who many thought Murray might end up coaching first, said he was as surprised by the news as anyone.
“I think it’s amazing that Andy is coming back into tennis,” said Draper. “I kind of figured that maybe he’d take a break and do other things, but one thing I do know about him is that he loves this sport so much. He was always talking tennis when we were away. I think he’d be an amazing coach, in all honesty.
“His tennis brain is huge, tactically. I think he’d find it incredibly fun to be around Djokovic. I think he finds that interesting; to see one of his biggest rivals, how that guy operates on a daily basis. We’re obviously all at the same tournaments, we’re doing stuff, but I feel like until you actually are surrounded by that person or that athlete all day long, you don’t really understand what they’re all about and why they are the way they are, and why Djokovic is as successful as he is. I think Andy will be very excited for that.”
Earlier this month Draper found himself in less familiar terrain as he gathered a large group of family, friends and fellow players in west London for a sponsored charity walk in support of the Alzheimer’s Society on the banks of the Thames.
As his game develops and his profile rises, Draper’s growing platform has afforded him opportunities to spotlight important causes. It is a position he is still growing accustomed to.
“I don’t find who I am or what I do very impressive,” said Draper. “I know that sounds whatever because I’m No 15 in the world, I’m a tennis player and stuff. But if I go out or if I meet other people, I’m never talking about my tennis. I don’t think what I do is exceptional because I’m around it the whole time and I’ve always been taught good values, to be humble, all these sorts of things.
“But I suppose I’m not materialistic, I’m not a show off. I still drive a second-hand [Volkswagen] Polo. That’s just who I am. So I don’t like to think that I’m trying to do all this, and it’s all about me. It’s not about me at all. It’s about raising money for this cause. And that’s the main thing that I’m interested in.”
This cause is of particular importance to Draper as dementia has severely affected him and his family. From the age of 11, Draper watched his maternal grandmother, Brenda, gradually deteriorate mentally due to the disease. His grandfather, Chris, is her main carer. Looking after a loved one who no longer knows who you are is an incredibly difficult and painful task.
“It is all about my nana, but it’s also to honour my grandad, to honour all the carers, the people who are kind of stuck in this situation where it’s like you’ve got someone who develops this illness, and they need care,” said Draper. “They need to be looked after. They don’t lose their physicality, they lose their mental ability. And you watch that person you love or that person who’s always been such a significant figure, then not know who you are and not know what’s going on.”
