Jack Draper believes certain decisions by tennis bosses, combined with the current direction men’s tennis is heading, could trigger an injury crisis among young players.
The former world No.4 has played only eight events this year due to injury, and his last competitive match was in August at the Cincinnati Open. Draper has struggled with a persistent injury in his left serving arm (bone bruising). The issue has forced him to miss all four Grand Slam events in 2026, dropping him to 157th in the rankings.
After his recent struggles, Draper confirmed he’ll approach his schedule differently in the new season. In an interviewwith Bagel magazine, the Brit hit out at the pressure young players face on the Tour when it comes to their commitments.
“I’ll definitely look after my schedule as best as possible,” he said.
“Longevity is something that I want to achieve. I want to be playing for a long time. There’s a lot of young tennis players now looking at the tour schedule and people say, “Oh, you don’t need to play every week,” but at the end of the day, young players want to be number one. And to do that, you have to play week in, week out.”
This isn’t the first time someone has spoken out about the Tour calendar. Another to do so is Carlos Alcaraz, who previously said the Tour calendar is going ‘in the wrong direction’ and is ‘pushing us (the players) too much out of the line sometimes to play a lot of tournaments.’ Alcaraz missed nearly five months of action earlier this season due to a wrist injury. Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner hasn’t played since Wimbledon due to a knee problem.
“There’s been a lot of money-making decisions in tennis, especially from higher up,” Draper continued.
“And although there’s been a lot of good stuff going on, they’re really putting a whole generation in danger, getting injured all the time.
“It’s more to do with the nature of the way the game’s going as well: slower courts, slower balls and then athletes getting better. So it’s not in a good place.”
Elaborating further on slower courts on the Tour, Draper argues that they put more strain on players than in the past because of advances in training and technology.
“Athletes are having to push their bodies more and more to cope with the demands of the level that everyone can produce,” he said.
“Especially also with the nature of how slow the courts are getting, which means you can get to those balls. Tennis now is such a physically demanding sport. And obviously with the calendar being so long, and all these things combining, it’s producing a lot more injuries.”
Draper is yet to confirm where he will begin his comeback in 2027. If he returns in January, he will not be able to use a protected ranking as players must be out of action for at least six months to be eligible.
