Jack Draper to Miss French Open and Clay Season with Knee Injury
Britain's Jack Draper will be sidelined for the remainder of the clay court season, including the upcoming French Open, due to a persistent knee injury.
The 24-year-old aims to return for the grass court season in June but is expected to drop outside the world’s top 100 rankings by then.
Draper retired from his only clay court match this season in Barcelona earlier this month because of a tendon issue in his right knee. Subsequently, he withdrew from consecutive ATP 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, though he had initially hoped to compete at 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 Barcelona tournament marked just the fourth event in Draper’s comeback following bone bruising in his serving arm, an injury that, aside from 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.
Currently ranked 28th in the world, Draper is projected to fall to around 50th after this week’s Madrid Open concludes. This drop is due to his runner-up finish in Madrid last year, where he was defending 650 ranking points.
He will also be unable to defend the points earned from reaching the quarter-finals of last year’s Italian Open and the fourth round of Roland Garros.
If fully recovered, Draper could start his grass court season in Stuttgart on 8 June, where he won the title two years ago, before competing at Queen’s Club in London.
The 2024 US Open semi-finalist now faces a minimal chance of being seeded at Wimbledon, increasing the likelihood of encountering a seeded player in the early rounds. However, his current priority remains recovery.
Draper experienced a remarkable first half of 2025, capturing his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and reaching a career-high ranking of fourth in the world. Despite this, his early career has been plagued by injuries to his shoulder, hip, arm, and now knee.
Maintaining fitness and avoiding further injury will be Draper’s main focus moving forward.
At Indian Wells in March—only the second ATP event of his comeback—Draper demonstrated his potential as a significant contender against players like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz over the coming decade. He reached the quarter-finals in California, including a notable victory over Novak Djokovic.
Nevertheless, Draper had tape on his knee during parts of that tournament and has been cautious with his recovery.
He withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters in late March and received treatment on his knee during his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Barcelona before retiring midway through the deciding set.
Other British Players Facing Challenges
Fellow British players Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal have also encountered recent health setbacks.
Raducanu skipped the Madrid tournament to continue recovering from a lingering viral illness, while Kartal will miss the entire clay season due to a back injury.
Raducanu remains on the entry list for the French Open, which begins on 24 May. She has recently resumed training at the National Tennis Centre in London and will decide in the coming days whether to participate in the Rome tournament next week.
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