Leading injury prevention and athlete welfare expert Stephen Smith has praised Jack Draper for his “measured” and “meticulous” approach to his recovery from injury ahead of his long-awaited comeback.
Draper has not played since he withdrew from his second round match at the 2025 US Open in August due to a bruised humerus – the bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow – in his left arm. He revealed that he had been suffering with the injury since the clay-court season and that it had gotten “progressively worse.”
The world No 13, who reached his career-high ranking of world No 4 in June last year, is set to make his return to action in Great Britain’s Davis Cup Qualifiers tie against Norway in Oslo later this week.
“It’s been a long time since I was able to compete,” Draper told the ITF at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre. “But I’ve stayed in a good place, even though it’s been tricky – lots of dark moments, lots of tough times – but that’s the sport I signed up for.
“I’m always learning, always growing and happy to be back playing again.”
Draper was initially due to make his comeback at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown exhibition event in London in December, but he pulled out.
The 24-year-old then chose to postpone his return to competition further by withdrawing from the United Cup and the Australian Open.
In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Smith backed Draper’s decision not to compete at the year’s first Grand Slam.
“Jack Draper pulling out of the Australian Open, I think it’s really smart decision-making for him,” Smith assessed.
“Some of his commentary was that, going into the number of matches at the intensity level that would be required at the Australian Open just wouldn’t be the smartest thing for him and his team to do.”
Asked if the length of Draper’s absence and the delays to his comeback are concerning, Smith took the opposing view.
“No, I think everything that you’re hearing from him and from his camp is that they understand the gravity of the issue, hence that’s why he wasn’t involved in the Australian Open,” he said.
“They’re suggesting that they’re looking at a much more gradual return to performance for him.
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“To me, from everything I’ve heard, they’ve never been unsure about what they’re doing, they’ve been very confident in their decision-making, they’ve been very measured in their decision-making.
“I would take a lot of confidence from that because it sounds like they had a very meticulous and detailed plan, and regardless of how important the Australian Open is, they weren’t willing to risk it because they understand the pros and cons of that.
“So I would look at that (the lengthy period taken for Draper to return) from the complete opposite lens.”
Smith went on to address whether Draper will need to manage his schedule throughout 2026 to minimise the risk of a recurrence of the injury.
“Yeah, I would expect that they’re probably going to manage him throughout the year and make sure that they’re going to be assessing him after every competition and between games, and ensuring that he’s not having any negative response,” Smith said.
“I think they’ll be adjusting his plan based off how his body is responding, which is exactly what you would expect them to do from a best practice perspective.”
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