Draper poised to fall outside top 100 by missing French Open

April 30, 2026 No Comments

Draper out of French Open with knee injuryImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Jack Draper beat Novak Djokovic on his way to the Indian Wells quarter-finals in MarchByRussell FullerTennis correspondent and Amy LofthouseBBC Sport Senior Journalist

29 April 2026

Britain’s Jack Draper will miss the rest of the clay court season – including next month’s French Open – because of an ongoing knee injury.

The 24-year-old hopes to return for June’s grass court season but by then will almost certainly have fallen outside the world’s top 100.

Draper retired from his one and only clay court match of the season in Barcelona earlier this month because of the tendon issue in his right knee.

He then pulled out of back-to-back ATP 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, but expressed optimism that he would be fit for the French Open.

“My knee is on the mend and I’ve started back hitting balls but unfortunately I have been advised not to play Roland Garros,” Draper posted on Instagram.

“As gutting as it is to miss another Slam, the advice is not to rush straight back into playing five set tennis on clay.”

The tournament in Barcelona was just the fourth event of Draper’s comeback from bone bruising in his serving arm, which – bar one match at the US Open – had kept him off the tour since Wimbledon last year.

“Off the back of the arm injury, I’ve been restricted with my training and by giving myself the time to heal and build, I can be the player I want to be out there once again,” Draper added.

Draper is 28th in the world rankings, but will fall to around 50th after the completion of this week’s Madrid Open.

That is because the former British number one finished runner-up in Madrid last year and was supposed to be defending 650 ranking points.

He will also now be unable to recoup the points he earned for reaching the quarter-finals of last year’s Italian Open and the fourth round of Roland Garros.

If fully fit, Draper could begin his grass court season in Stuttgart – where he won the title two years ago – on 8 June before heading home to play at Queen’s Club in London.

The 2024 US Open semi-finalist now has virtually no chance of being seeded for Wimbledon, which means he is very likely to come up against a seed in either the first or second round.

But that will be the least of his worries right now.

Draper had a brilliant first half of 2025, winning his first Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells and peaking at fourth in the world rankings.

But his early career has been riddled with injuries to his shoulder, hip, arm and now knee.

Getting fit, and staying that way, will be Draper‘s primary concern for the foreseeable future.

Draper showed at Indian Wells in March – only the second ATP event of his comeback – why he could be one of the main threats to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz over the next decade.

He reached the quarter-finals in California, claiming an impressive victory over Novak Djokovic on the way.

However, he had tape on his knee at times during that run and has been cautious with his comeback.

He withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters in late March, and then received treatment on his knee during his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Barcelona before retiring midway through the deciding set.

Fellow Britons Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal have also struggled with illness and injury in recent weeks.

Raducanu skipped Madrid to continue her recovery from a lingering viral illness, while Kartal will miss the entire clay season with a back injury.

Raducanu is on the entry list for the French Open, which starts on 24 May.

She has recently resumed training at the National Tennis Centre in London, and will decide over the next few days whether to play in Rome next week.