Jack Draper has revealed when he will make his comeback and he could be set for a huge financial windfall if he makes his class tell at one of the final big tennis events of 2025.
The British No 1 made the painful decision to call time on his 2025 season after he was forced to pull out of the US Open ahead of his second round match with an arm injury last month.
It was not just a painful sporting decision for Draper, as his lay-off also meant he missed out on some lucrative end-of-season events, notably the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia, where he would have been guaranteed a $1.5m appearance fee and could have collected treble that amount if he had won the invitational event.
Draper was also a strong contender to qualify for the end-of-season ATP Finals, with huge money on offer for the eight players competing in that event in Turin.
In total, Draper missed out on competing for in excess of $10m over the next couple of months, but he admitted he didn’t have any option after receiving medical advice.
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“Unfortunately, the injury to my arm is something I have to rest and means I’ll be sitting out the rest of 2025,” said Draper, as he ended his season.
“It is very difficult for me to accept as I was building some incredible momentum this year and playing some great stuff.
“However I’ve been through this before – and I always come back stronger as I’m so motivated to fulfil my potential as a player.”
Draper’s injury was diagnosed as bone bruising after his defeat to Marin Cilic in the second round of Wimbledon and he is hoping to be ready in time to compete at the UTS Grand Slam in London, where he has been granted a wildcard for the event taking place in December.
Draper won the UTS London Grand Final on his only previous appearance in 2023, earning what was then his biggest ever payday in excess of $500,000.
It proved to be a springboard for the talented Londoner who went on to win his first ATP Tour titles and reach the semi-finals of the US Open the following season. 2025 has seen him establish himself in the world’s tp 10 and reach a career high ranking of No 4 after winning Indian Wells and reaching finals in Madrid and Doha.
“I have such great memories of winning UTS in front of my home crowd a couple of years ago. I think the format really suits my game and it’s so much fun to play. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and competing,” said Draper.
Draper relished the high energy stage as he won the UTS title two year ago, with the dynamic rules meaning players only get one serve and compete over four eight minute quarters.
“I knew nothing about the UTS rules until the briefing we had and it was interesting,” said Draper, looking back on his UTS debut.
“They were saying smash rackets as much as you want, do whatever on court and the only think you can’t do is abuse people in the crowd, which was interesting!
“So I won’t be doing an Eric Cantona into the crowd this weekend and I don’t think I will be smashing too many rackets because I haven’t brought too many with me.
“UTS seems like an amazing concept. It allows you to play freely and that for me, is what tennis about.
“I do think it also needs to open itself up a little. For instance, the crowd should be able to move around and talk. They have that at the US Open and they have also tried to do a few new ideas at the Next Gen Finals.
“There are also a few rules that tennis could include that could help the spectators of the game. No warm-up on the first serve is tough for the players, but it is good for the game.”
The UTS London Grand Final is the climax of a season of UTS events around the world, including next month’s Chubb UTS Hong Kong with Humansa. So far only two players have qualified for London by winning UTS events: triple Grand Slam Finalist Casper Ruud, champion of Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes in April, and Tomas Machac, the rising Czech star who won UTS Guadalajara in February.
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